
COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



EASTERN KENTUCKY PAPERS 



THE FOUNDING OF 

BARMAN'S STATION 

WITH AN ACCOUNT OF 

THE INDIAN CAPTIVITY OF MRS. JENNIE 

WILEY AND THE EXPLORATION AND 

SETTLEMENT OF THE BIG SANDY 

VALLEY IN THE VIRGINIAS 

AND KENTUCKY 



By WILLIAM ELSEY CONNELLEY 

AUTHOR OF QUANTRILL AND THE BORDER WARS: THE HECKEWELDER NAR- 
RATIVE: JOHN BROWN: WYANDOT FOLK-LORE: THE PROVI- 
SIONAL GOVERNMENT OF NEBRASKA TERRITORY, ETC. 



TO WHICH IS AFFIXED A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE CONNELLY 

FAMILY AND SOME OF ITS COLLATERAL AND 

RELATED FAMILIES IN AMERICA 




NEW YORK 

THE TORCH PRESS, 29-33 West 42d Street 

MDCCCCX 



iyo 



LSI 



COPYEIGHT 1910 BY 

WILLIAM ELSEY CONNELLEY 

ALL EIGHTS RESEKVED 



THE TORCH PRESS 

CEOAR RAPID6 

IOWA 



lO^}^i)dt) 



8 



>CI.A275791 



PREFACE 

The introductory chapter to the history of most of the 
early settlements of Kentucky is the story of a tragedy. 
In many instances this characteristic of their annals is 
repeated, often deepened and intensified, for a number of 
years after their beginning. This feature does not apply 
to the history of one locality more than to that of ayiother. 
It is the general ride and is found in the story of almost 
every community. The founding of Barman's Station 
on the Louisa River ^ ivas directly caused by a tragedy as 
dark and horrible as any ever perpetrated by the savages 
upon the exposed and dangerous frontier of Virginia. 
The destruction of the home of Thomas Wiley in the valley 
of Walker's Creek, the murder of his children, the cap- 
tivity of his tvife by savages and her miraculous escape 
were the first incidents in a series of events in the history 
of Kentucky ivhich properly belong to the annals of the 
Big Sandy Valley. Over them time has cast a tinge of 
romance, and they have groivn in historical importance 
for more than a century. While they have been treasured 
by the people in that portion of Eastern Kentucky adja- 
cent to the Virginias for more than a hundred years they 

1 The Louisa River was named hy Dr. Thomas Walker on Thursday, the 
7th day of June, 1750. The entry in Br. Walker's Journal describing this 
event is as follows: "June 7th. — The Creek being fordablc, ive Crossed it 
4" kept down IS miles to a Eiver about 100 yards over, Which We called 
Louisa Eiver. The Creek is about SO yards wide, 4" port of ye Eiver 
breaks into ye Creek — making an Island on which we Camped." 

In the early days of the settlement of the Big Sandy Valley this stream 
was known altogether as the Louisa Eiver. As late as 18S5 it was generally 
called the Louisa Eiver. After that time, and to some extent before, the 
name began to be corrupted to that of Levisa. The name Levisa is now used 
almost entirely. That the name is a corruption of the true name, Lowisa, 



are preserved mainly in tradition. Indeed, it is to tradi- 
tion principally that we must look for the sources of much 
of the history of all Eastern Kentucky. For the history 
of Kentucky, so far as it has been written at all, deals 
almost wholly ivith events which transpired in the ''blue 
grass region" of the State. 

Thirteen years after the establishment of the first per- 
manent white settlement of Kentucky at Harrodsburg a 
strong healthy settlement of hardy, bold, self-reliant back- 
woodsmen was made in what is noiv Johnson County. 
Among the founders of this settlement were a number of 
the most noted explorers, scouts, guides, riflemen, and 
Indian fighters ever developed by the harsh and dangerous 
times of the frontier days of Virginia and the Carolinas. 
Why some substantial account of the station founded by 
these men in that wilderness was not made a matter of 
record by some historical writer of those times is one of 
the strange things occasionally found in the annals of a 
State. In the company ivhich made this settlement ivere 
Matthias Harman, Henry Skaggs, James Skaggs, and 
Robert Halves, all members of that famous party knoivn 
in history as the Long Hunters. These and others of the 
company had been in the front ranks of those audacious 
rangers of the wilderness who wrested the Ohio Valley 
from its savage owners. Through this settlement they 
seized and finally held the valley of the Louisa River. 
The contest was desperate, and they ivere forced to aban- 
don their station for a time by fierce and frequent attacks 
made upon it by the Indian tribes living beyond the Ohio, 

there is no doubt. It appears that the iuime Louisa once attached to the 
whole State of Kentuclcy, hut the extent of the application of this name is 
not now Tcnown. There is reason to believe that as early as 1775 the name 
Louisa was corrupted to Levisa. Speed, in the Wilderness Road, says "that 
Felix Walker, with Captain Tivetty and six others, left Eutherford, North 
Carolina, in February 1775 (according to Felix Walker's narrative), 'to ex- 
plore the country of Lcowvisay, now Kentucky.' " But the u ivas formerly 
written v, and it may have been so in this word Lcowvisay; in that case it 
would be Lcowuisay, an erroneous spelling of Louisa. 

The Kentucky River was sometimes called the Louisa River by the pion- 
eers and explorers, and it was called, also, the Cherokee River. In the deed 



ivho destroyed the blockhouse. But these courageous 
hunters returned with reinforcements and rebuilt their 
ruined fort never again to yield it to any foe. There most 
of them spent the remainder of their days, and there they 
lie buried. Descendants of many of them live in that 
country to this day. 

It was distinctly remembered by many old people whom 
I knew in my youth that Matthias Harman in company 
ivith his kinsmen and other forest rangers established a 
hunting station and built a large cabin of logs, prior to the 
Sandy Creek Voyage, on the identical spot tvhich after- 
wards became the site of their blockhouse. It is probable 
that this hunting lodge ivas the first log cabin built in what 
is noiv the State of Kentucky ivhich came to be the basis 
of a permanent settlement of English-speaking people. 
The settlement made there was self-supporting. No gov- 
ernme7it took any notice of its existence until it was firmly 
established. It did not cost the States of Virginia or Ken- 
tucky a farthing at any time. Not so much as a pound of 
poivder or bar of lead was ever contributed by either State 
to its equipment or defense, although it ivas repeatedly 
raided by Indians and the fort fiercely attacked, once so 
persistently and ivith such force that, as said above, the 
settlers returned to Virginia for a short time. 

I recognized the necessity for some reliable record of the 
historical events in the settlement of Eastern Kentucky 
while but yet a boy. Seeing that no man set his hand to 
the task, and believing it the duty of every one to labor for 
the common good, as best he can, I began then to collect 

from the CheroTcees to Richard Menderson and others, projyrictors of the 
Transylvania Company, conveying the tract of land knotvn as the Great 
Grant, we find the description of the land heginninrj as follows: "All that 
tract, territory, or parcel of land, situated, lying and being in North America, 
on the Ohio River one of the eastern branches of the Mississippi Biver^ begin- 
ning on the said Ohio, at the mouth of Kentucky, Cherokee, or what by the 
English is called Louisa River. ' ' This calling of the Kentucky River by the 
name Louisa was caused by a misapprehension. It was not certainly known 
what river had been called Louisa by Dr. Walker, as he traced none of the 
rivers, which he named, to the Ohio. But that he did not call the Kentucky 
River Louisa is shown by Lewis Evans's Map, 1775, on which the Louisa 



and preserve such information pertaining to that subject 
as I could find. I knew personally many pioneers of that 
country; some of them were of my own family. Some of 
these old people could give little of value. Others could 
recite connected and interesting narratives covering the 
events of three-fourths of a century. Many of them had 
been through the stirring times of the early settlements 
made in the country about the New River and the head 
ivaters of the Clinch and the Holston. Of these events 
they told me. 

Tradition alone does not constitute sufficient authority 
for positive historical statements. When, however, tra- 
dition is found ivell defined and uniform as to material 
facts throughout a large district it always preserves valua- 
ble material for the historian, and very frequently it is 
found to be more reliable than written annals. As a con- 
firmatory medium it often renders the writer the highest 
service. In that capacity I have availed myself of its 
assistance in preparing this account of the founding of 
Harman's Station. The sources of my authority are far 
above mere traditional declarations. The pioneers gave 
me information of events of which they had, in many in- 
stances, personal knowledge, and all the events of ivhich 
they spoke ivere so recent that their knowledge of them 
may properly be considered personal. 

In all matters concerning Mrs. Jennie Wiley I have fol- 
loived the account given me by her son, Adam P. Wiley. 
There are several reasons ivhy I have adhered to his state- 
ments in that matter. I knew him intimately and long, 

Biver is marJced as flowing into the Great Kanawha, and the upper course of 
the "Tottery or Big Sandy C." is marked "FredericTc B." Frederick's 
River was discovered and named hy Dr. Walker on the Sd of June, 1750, 
five days before he discovered and named the Louisa Eivcr, and as it is now 
known that the Louisa Biver does not flow into the Great Kanaivha, it fol- 
lows that the west branch of the Big Sandy Biver ivas the stream upon xvhich 
Br. Walker bestowed the name Louisa. 

Bev. Zephaniah Meek wrote me from Catlettsburg, Kentucky, November 
19, 1895, as follows: "I called on Capt. Owens yesterday, formerly of Pike 
county, and asked him the origin of the name Levisa as applied to the west 
fork of the Big Sandy. He says that i?i the early settlement of this part of 



and I never heard his reputation for truth and veracity 
brought into question. He was a minister of the Gospel. 
His mijid was a storehouse of history afid horder story. 
He possessed fine oratorical and conversational powers. 
His memory was wonderful and it was not impaired by the 
great age to which he lived. He was thirty-three when his 
mother died. His opportunity for exact knowledge of 
what did actually transpire was far superior to that of any 
other pioneer living into my generation. When I saw 
him last he was past eighty, but he was erect and only 
slightly gray. He knew personally a number of the Lo?ig 
Hunters. He knew the Ingles family and could give a 
better account of the captivity and escape of Mrs. Mary 
Ingles than I have ever found in any published work. He 
was perfectly familiar ivith the topography of all the coun- 
try over luhich his mother was carried captive, and this 
enabled him to identify localities and make his narrative 
complete and explicit. It is possible he may have been in 
error in some minor matters. It ivas long my opinion 
that Mrs. Wiley could not have marched to the Tug River 
in the time allowed by Mr. Wiley. But he insisted that he 
was right, and knowing the iron endurance of the pioneer 
men and ivomen it came to be my conviction that Mrs. 
Wiley did make this march in the time stated. I was 
doubtful, too, of the ability of the Indians to cross the Tug 
and the Louisa rivers with Mrs. Wiley in the manner de- 
scribed by Mr. Wiley. Since then, however, I have become 
ivell acquainted ivith members of the Wyandot, Shawnee, 
Delaiuare, and Cherokee tribes, and have seen them per- 

the State, a French trader hy the name of Le Visa came to tchat is now 
Louisa, and oiving to some experiences of his, that fork came to be called after 
his name, hence, Americanized Levisa. ' ' 

There may have been a French trader at the forks of the Big Sandy by the 
name of Le Visa, but the word of Captain Owens is all the evidence I have 
found of that fact. If there was s^ich a trader he was not prominent enough 
to change the name of a river ar to have his name attach to it. The i in 
French is e in English. Anglicised, the Frenchman's name would have been 
Levesay or Levesy. Levisa could not possibly have come from it. The ex- 
pla7}ation of Captain Oicens is a very improbable one. 

John P. Hale, in his Trans-Allegheny Pioneers says: "The La Visa, or 



form feats in swiftly running water much more marvelous 
than that pictured by Mr. Wiley. In the matter of dates 
I have invariably followed Mr. Wiley. I believe it was 
sound judgment to do so. There are many circumstances 
to corroborate him, among the strongest being the mention 
of Barman's Station in the map published by Imlay in 
1793. 

Mr. Wiley ivas very anxious that the exact account of 
his mother's captivity and escape should be preserved. 
Although deficient in the matter of education he did try 
more than once to write it out. So unsatisfactory ivere 
his efforts that he did not preserve them. He exacted 
from me a promise that I would ivrite the account of the 
trials and sufferings of his mother. This is the fulfilment 
of that promise. I have performed the ivork to the best 
of my ability. I believe there ivill be found no great er- 
rors, though I realize that I may hai^e fallen into minor 
mistakes. If it should turn out so, I am confident any 
fault discovered will prove unimportant and immaterial. 

Mrs. Wiley has many descendants living in Kentucky 
and West Virginia. The Indians murdered her brother 
and five of her children. After her return from captivity 
to her husband there were five children born to them — 
Hezekiah, Jane, Sarah, Adam, and William. 

Hezekiah married Christine Nelson, of Lawrence Coun- 
ty; moved to Wayne County, West Virginia, and settled 
on Twelve Pole Creek; died near his old home while on a 
visit, in 1882. 

Levisa, fork is said to mean the picture, design, or representation. It was 
so called hy an early French explorer in that region, from Indian pictures or 
signs, painted on trees, near the head of the stream." 

These painted trees rvere to be found in early times all along the Louisa 
River from the mouth of Big Paint Creek, ivhere they were most numerous, 
to its head. Christopher Gist was on the Pound Biver in 1751. The entry 
in his Journal for Wednesday, April 3, is as follows: " . . . to a small 
Creek on which was a large Warriors camp, that would contain 10 or 80 
Warriors, their Captains Name or Title was the Crane, as I knew by his 
Picture or Arms painted on a tree." Darlington says: "This was on 
the .<itream called Indian Creek, the middle fork of the Big Sandy, in Wise 



Jane married Richard Williamson; also settled on 
Twelve Pole Creek; died there. 

Sarah married first Christian Yost; moved to Wayne 
County, West Virginia. There, after the death of her first 
husband, she married Samuel Murray; died March 10, 
1871. 

Both Adam and William left families in Johnson Coun- 
ty, Kentucky. 

The full name of Adam luas Adam Prevard Wiley. 
Prevard was a mispronunciation of Brevard. Mrs. 
Wiley was related by blood to the North Carolina family 
of that name. That is ivhy she gave the name to her son. 
The name was often erroneously written Prevard, and 
even Pervard. 

Mr. Wiley gave Matthias Barman due credit for intelli- 
gent leadership as this work ivill shoiv. He believed few 
men on the border ever equaled Matthias Harman in In- 
dian warfare and ivoodcraft. 

Like all people who divell in rural communities Mr. 
Wiley kept himself tvell informed on all subjects of local 
lore. He kneiv the locality from ivhich almost every fam- 
ily had emigrated to Kentucky, and he knew what families 
had intermarried both before and after they left Virginia. 
He knew the number of children of most of the pioneers, 
their names, and when they ivere born. To this day ivhen 
a number of Big Sandy Valley people meet they discuss 
the intermarriages of various families of their acquaint- 
ance, when they occurred, ivhen and where the contracting 
parties were born, where the families came from to Keu- 

County. The Crane was a totem or badge of one of the Miami tribes; also 
of the Wyandots. A common practice among the Indian tribes, u-ilh war 
parties at a distance from home, urns to paint on trees or a rock figures of 
tvarriors, prisoners, animals, etc., as intelligible to other Indians as a printed 
handbill among the whites." Darlington is in error when he says there was 
a totem of the Crane among the Wyandots. But they had a chief named 
Tarhe, or the Crane, tcho was old enough in 1751 to have led a hunting party 
or even a war party into the wilderness. He became head chief of the Wyan- 
dots on the death of the Half King. 

It might be possible that these many^ patintings suggested to some of the 
early explorers and hunters some .tuch name for this .ftrcam as Device Fork, 



tuchy, and every other feature of the matter. The work 
on the history of the Big Sandy Valley by Dr. William 
Ely is made up of family genealogies. Rev. M. T. Burris 
wrote for me a manuscript of almost one hundred pages 
on the history of the Valley ; nine-tenths of it is genealogy. 
I have been collecting information along that same line for 
forty years and am still at it. I believe I have material 
from which can be constructed a genealogical record of the 
people of that valley ivhich ivill be more complete than can 
possibly be made of any other district in America of equal 
age and area. 

This is a beginning in the work of ivriting the history of 
Eastern Kentucky. I am confident that no other part of 
the State has a more interesting history than that of the 
Big Sandy Valley. When the full record is made up it ivill 
show that Eastern Kentucky ivas settled almost exclusive- 
ly by men ivho served in the patriot armies of the Revolu- 
tion, and that no other community of equal size had so 
great a proportion of those heroic men. I mention that 
fact at this time because malice and ignorance in the "blue 
grass region" delight to speak in disparaging terms of the 
ancestry of the mountaineer. The blood of the mountain- 
eer is the purest on the continent, and his language is the 
purest Anglo-Saxon speech to be found in America. 

William Elsey Connelley 
816 Lincoln Street, Topeka, Kansas, 
July 7, 1910 



or Device River, or Devices Fork, or Devices River, and that such name or 
names finally assumed the form of Levisa Fork, etc. This is only suggested 
as a remotely possible origin of the name Levisa. It is far-fetched; there is 
no prohaiility at all that such is the origin of the name. That Levisa is a 
corruption of Louisa may be accepted as beyond dispute or question. 

Dr. Walker gave this river the name Louisa in honor of Louisa, the wife 
of the Duke of Cumberland, it is said. Louisa is a good old English ncme, 
coming down from a more ancient people. It is a name of much beauty, and 
it was iyi great favor with our ancestors. It should be restored to th^ river 
to which Dr. Walker gave it. The Louisa Fork should be called the Louisa 
River. The Tug Fork should be called the Tug River. The river formed 
by their junction should be called the Big Sandy River. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



I. 


Preface .... 


5 


II. 


Harman's Station . 


17 


III. 


The Connelly Family 


93 


IV. 


John Wesley Langley 


. 150 


V. 


Milton Forrest Conley 


. 153 


VI. 


Announcement 


. 155 


VII. 


Index .... 


157 



MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS 



Arms of the Connelly Family . . . .93 

Battle with Indians at the Hunting Camp . . 28 

Blockhouse Bottom, View of ... . 104 
Conley, Constantino, Junior .... 

I. Portrait of . . . . .144 

II. Standing on Site of Blockhouse . . 148 

Conley, Milton Forrest, Portrait of . . . 153 

Connelly, Dr. Henry, Portrait of . . . .96 

Falls of Little Mudlick Creek in Winter . . .54 

Finding the Trail of the Indians . . . .64 

Indians on River Bank . . . . .90 

Langley, John "Wesley, Portrait of . . 150 
Maps — 

I. State of Kentucky, from Imlay . . 10 

II. Country About Falls of Little Mudlick Creek 50 

III. Showing Route of Mrs. Wiley's Escape . 78 
Sellards, Hezekiah, Colony of. Moving to Walker's Creek 20 

Settlers on their way to Build the Blockhouse . . 34 

Torture of the Captive . . . . .58 
Vancouver's Post, 1789 ..... 68 

Wiley Cabin on Walker's Creek . . . .26 
Wiley, Mrs. Jennie — 

I. Carried into the Wilderness . . .38 

II. Trying to Escape with Her Child . . 42 

III. Indians Crossing Tug River with . . 46 

IV. Rescuing Her Child . . . .48 

V. Tied to the Stake for Torture . . 60 

VI. Dream of ... . Frontispiece 

VII. Crossing the River with Skaggs . 74 

VIII. Escape of from the Indians . .80 

IX. Calling Across the River for Help . . 84 

X. At the Mouth of Little Paint Creek . . 88 



CHAPTER I 

By virtue of conquest the Iroquois claimed all the 
country between the Ohio and the Tennessee. They could 
not themselves occupy the land they had conquered. Other 
tribes stood in terror of them and did not encroach upon 
the territory to which they laid claim. Consequently few 
aboriginal settlements were found in what is now the 
State of Kentucky. Alien tribes seem to have roamed 
over it in search of game. Hostile nations sometimes 
met in the gloom of its great forests in deadly conflict. 
It came to be regarded as the common battle ground. In 
time the Cherokees formulated a shadowy claim to a por- 
tion of it which they disposed of to Henderson and his as- 
sociates. This gave the English an ambiguous title to the 
soil which was never relinquished, although the French 
appealed to arms in contention for possession of the Ohio 
Valley. The defeat of Braddock left the English frontiers 
without protection from savage bands. Frequent and 
bloody invasions followed, and these were not ended by 
the final triumph of the English. The French inhabitants 
of Canada passed under the dominion of a government 
against which they bore the deepest enmity. The result 
was the Conspiracy of Pontiac, which carried the torch, 
the tomahawk, and the scalping-knife into the frontier 
settlements from Pennsylvania to Georgia. Painted war- 
riors lurked on the skirts of every frontier community, 
save for brief intermissions, for the next thirty years. 
Blazing cabin-homes in the red glare of which lay mur- 
dered and scalped families, captive wives and daughters 
led away into the wilderness to degradation worse than 



18 HARMAN'S STATION 

death, fathers and sons tortured at the stake — these were 
common occurrences all along the western borders of the 
English settlements until the peace of Greenville in 1795. 

To oppose, and, so far as possible, to prevent these 
atrocities, and to occasionally perpetrate similar or more 
horrible ones upon the Indians, there was developed that 
class of hardy backwoodsmen, hunters, adventurers, rifle- 
men, and forest-rangers who traversed the wilderness 
beyond the confines of civilization and afforded what pro- 
tection they could to the exposed and defenseless pio- 
neers.^ 

In 1763 the line defining the frontier extended from 
Ingles 's Ferry on the New River to the Susquehanna. It 
followed along the crest of that range of the Alleghanies 
which separates the waters of the Ohio from the head 
branches of the Potomac and the James. Fort Pitt was 
an outpost far beyond the remotest settlements. A few 
pioneers were to be found on the head waters of the Mon- 
ongahela and other tributaries of the Ohio.^ South and 
southwest from Ingles 's Ferry there were at that time no 
settlements of English-speaking folk west of the Allegha- 
nies on the borders of Virginia or the Carolinas. A chance 
settler or an occasional hunter, all trace of whom is now 

2 ' * They were a distinct, peculiar class, marked with striking con- 
trasts of good and evil. Many, though by no means all, were coarse, 
audacious and unscrupulous; yet even in the worst, one might often have 
found a vigorous growth of warlike virtues, an iron endurance, an undespair- 
ing courage, a wondrous sagacity, and singular fertility of resource. In them 
was renewed, with all its ancient energy, that wild and daring spirit, that 
force and hardihood of mind, which marked our barbarous ancestors of 
Germany and Norway. ' ' — Parkman, Conspiracy of Pontiac, Vol. I, p. 158. 

3 In his Journal Dr. Thomas Walker mentions one Samuel Stalnacker 
whom he assisted to build a house on the Holston River in 1750. He seems 
to have been an Indian trader and to have been in this region for a number 
of years previous to that date; but the house he built in 1750 never, so far 
as we know, became the nucleus of any permanent community. One James 
McCall is also mentioned by Dr. Walker as living west of the New River in 
1750. A colony of ' ' Duncards ' ' lived on the west bank of the New 
River at Ingles 's Ferry in 1750, so Dr. Walker says in his Journal. 



HARMAN'S STATION 19 

lost to us, may previously have taken up his abode in those 
regions. To the line indicated the vanguard of the Eng- 
lish advance had pushed. Beyond lay the wilderness, 
deep, dark, dangerous, unexplored, unknown, but with a 
fascination wholly irresistible. Mongrel hordes of paint- 
ed savages wandered through its forest reaches in search 
of the buffalo, the deer, the bear, and often in stealthy and 
deadly search for one another. 

Here was a land having the inherent capacity for the 
development and maintenance of an empire unpeopled 
and wrapped in the unbroken silence of perpetual soli- 
tude. It was a desirable land, a land of plenty for even 
barbarians. Food was easily obtained by them, for un- 
numbered thousands of the American bison congregated 
on the treeless plains of the Illinois and the Ohio, and 
herds of deer wandered in the sunless mazes of the forest- 
clad ranges of the Cumberland and the Alleghanies. It 
was a land of enchanting beauty. Savage tribes of 
barbarians contended for it. The contumelious French- 
man buried leaden plates upon the wooded shores of its 
principal rivers in defiant challenge to the further advance 
of the stubborn Briton who was slowly but irresistibly 
pushing deeper and deeper into it from his compact hab- 
itat along the Atlantic seaboard with the immutable pur- 
poses of conquest and occupancy. 



CHAPTER II 

Hezekiah Sellards was a Scotch-Irish pioneer in the 
Upper Shenandoah Valley. He moved into that country 
from Pennsylvania. He built his cabin twenty miles from 
the nearest neighbor. He was a typical settler and a gen- 
uine frontiersman and backwoodsman. The location of 
his residence in the Valley cannot now be determined with 
any degree of certainty. It was in the mountains about 
the sources of the Shenandoah River. It was in a com- 
munity where many Presbyterians afterward settled. 
Sellards himself was a Presbyterian of the strictest sort. 
He was a man of strong character and sterling worth. 
He was of such standing in his church that in the absence 
of the minister he could hold the services, and he often 
preached to congregations which assembled in his house 
upon his invitation. For his time and place he was a man 
of considerable property, industry, economy and thrift 
being strong characteristics of the old woodsman. He 
was a man of some learning, and at considerable trouble 
and expense he had his children instructed in the common 
elementary branches. His children were strictly trained 
in that severity of morals exacted of the old Covenanters. 
These religious principles were the foundation upon which 
they were expected to build correct lives. 

The above makes up the sum total of what is known of 
Hezekiah Sellards in his residence on the Shenandoah. 
In addition to his farming he was a hunter. In company 
with his neighbors he made annual journeys into forests 
beyond the New River. The object of the hunter in those 
days was as much to find a desirable place in which to lo- 
cate when next he determined to move as to secure meat 



X 



c 




HARMAN'S STATION 21 

and skins. A more charming country than the western 
highlands of Virginia would be difficult indeed to find. 
Sellards and his associates hunted in that region about 
the head of Wolf Creek, and along Walker's Creek, going 
sometimes to the Clinch and the Holston. Their choice 
of locality finally fell upon W^alker's Creek and Walker's 
Mountain. Long before it was safe to do so, perhaps be- 
fore 1760, a colony of which Sellards was a member and 
perhaps the leader settled about Walker's Mountain. The 
date is not definite, but they were beset by Indians for 
thirty years. In their migration to their new home they 
drove their flocks and herds before them and carried their 
wives and children and their household effects upon pack- 
horses. 

The names of the other families of this western migra- 
tion are not now positively known. It is probable that the 
Staffords, Porters, Damrons, and others now represented 
in the Eastern Kentucky families came into that part of 
Virginia with Hezekiah Sellards. The number of persons 
and families cannot now be told, but prudence demanded 
that settlers going into the wilderness should go in suffi- 
cient force to withstand the Indian bands by which they 
were sure to be assailed. Sellards and his associates con- 
formed to the type found all along the frontier. They 
were soldiers as well as settlers. They were armed with 
the old, long, heavy, hair-trigger, flint-lock rifle, and with 
that rude weapon their aim was true and deadly. In wood- 
craft they could circUmvent the Indian. They were cool, 
positive, confident, alert, courageous, resourceful, and 
self-reliant. 

Before going on with the work in hand it will be profit- 
able to note a few features of backwoods life. The pio- 
neers were their own tanners, harness-makers and shoe- 
makers. They built their own houses and made their own 
furniture and agricultural implements. Salt and iron 



22 HARMAN'S STATION 

were indispensable and had to be brought in upon pack- 
horses from the stations or older settlements where they 
were purchased with skins, furs, dried venison, and gin- 
seng. Both were used sparingly. Often a cabin was com- 
pleted without there being a single nail, bolt, or spike used 
in its construction. Flax and cotton were grown by al- 
most every settler. These with the wool from the few 
sheep that escaped the wolves furnished material for cloth 
which was woven in looms in the pioneer homes. The 
feathers of ducks and geese furnished beds which found so 
much favor that they have not been discarded to this day. 
Clothing for the women was home spun, home woven, and 
home made, coarse, but substantial and comfortable. That 
of the men was of the same manufacture and often sup- 
plemented with skins, dressed and not dressed. The 
fringed hunting-shirt and leggins, fur cap and moccasins, 
made a picturesque garb, and for the scout, guide, hunter, 
trapper, explorer, or any other dweller in the wilderness 
it was the most appropriate that could have been devised. 

For food the pioneer depended upon Indian corn, his 
hogs, and the fruits of the chase. The cornfields sur- 
rounded every cabin. Bacon was the favorite meat. Vege- 
tables and fruits grew quickly and of fine quality ; many ed- 
ible fruits were found growing wild. Coffee was unknown, 
and tea was unheard of; substitutes were made from 
spicewood and sassafras. Chickens, turkeys, ducks, and 
geese were found about most cabins. 

The division of labor was not so distinct as it is now. 
Women often worked in the field, plied the axe, sheared 
the sheep, pulled the flax, plucked the feathers from the 
geese and ducks and frequently did effective service 
with the rifle. These things were in addition to their or- 
dinary work of preparing food, spinning and dyeing 
thread and yarn, weaving cloth therefrom, making the 
clothing, and attending to many other affairs amid all the 



HARMAN'S STATION 23 

cares and anxieties incident to rearing large families on 
an exposed and dangerous frontier.* 



* The manner of living here described had not entirely changed in 
Eastern Kentucky even in 1875. Many of the features here described 
remained in the home of my grandfather, Henry Connelly, Esq., who lived 
on the Middle Fork of Jennie's Creek, Johnson County, until his death 
in 1877. Most of the cloth for the clothing of himself and his fam- 
ily was made by my aunts from cotton, flax and wool produced on his 
farm. I often assisted in this manufacture when a child. I could spin on 
the " big wheel," fill the " quills " for the shuttles used in weaving, and 
I have " reeled " thread and yarn, much against my will, sometimes, I 
must say, until my arms ached. My grandfather raised on his farm his 
own com and wheat. He raised cattle, hogs, and horses. He cured his 
own bacon and dried and cured his omti beef. He manufactured most of 
the agricultural implements used on his farm. He had large orchards. For 
more than forty years he made his own sugar from the maples growing 
on his land. He manufactured his own cheese. He was an industrious and 
independent American citizen, and his manner of life was the best. A re- 
turn to it by the people would solve many serious questions now troubling 
the Eepublic. 



I 



CHAPTER III 

Hezekiah Sellards had a large family, but all his chil- 
dren save four died before they were grown up. Two of 
his sons, Thomas and Jack, lived on the Buffalo Fork of 
John's Creek and died there, each at a great age.^ One 
daughter married John Borders, a British soldier who 
served under Cornwallis and was captured at Yorktown. 
During his service he had come to believe in America and 
in her cause and had resolved to make this country his 
home as soon as he could secure his discharge from the 
army. It is said that he had acquainted his officers of his 
intention. After the surrender of Cornwallis Borders 
soon contrived to be released, and he went immediately to 
the back settlements of Virginia to begin life in his adopt- 
ed country. There he met and married a daughter of Hez- 
ekiah Sellards. He was an excellent man in every respect, 
so it is said. From his marriage with Miss Sellards are 
descended several families living now in Eastern Ken- 
tucky, one of the most numerous and respectable being that 
of Borders.*^ 

The remaining daughter of Hezekiah Sellards was Jean, 
familiarly called by her family and others Jennie Sellards. 
Her son informed me that she had black hair through 
which ran a tinge of auburn in her youth. Others say her 

5 Stated on the authority of Adam P. Wiley, also Eev. M. T. Burris, now 
of Golden, Mo. Mr. Burris writes me that he knew these brothers. He was 
born and brought up in the Leslie Settlement on John's Creek, and is a de- 
scendant of the pioneer Leslie. 

6 The descendants of John Borders live now mainly in Lawrence and 
Johnson counties, Kentucky. They are scattered over all the Mississippi 
Valley. Wliile many of them were farmers, they usually followed commer- 
cial life and were very successful. 



HARMAN'S STATION 25 

hair was coal black, and they saw her many times and had 
opportunity to know. All agree that she was strong and 
capable of great exertion and great endurance. Until past 
middle life she was of fine forai and her movements were 
quick. In her old age she became heavy and slow. She 
had then, too, heavy overhanging brows. Her eyes were 
black. She was above medium height. Her face was 
agreeable and indicated superior intelligence. She was 
persistent and detemiined in any matter she had decided 
to accomplish. She labored in her father's fields. She 
was familiar with eveiy feature of woodcraft and was a 
splendid shot with the rifle ; even after she settled in the 
Big Sandy Valley it required an expert to equal her. Be- 
fore her marriage she had killed bears, wolves, panthers 
and other wild animals. She was at home in the woods 
and could hold her way over the trails of the country 
either by day or by night. She was endowed with an 
abundance of good hard Scotch common-sense. In spin- 
ning, weaving, and other work of the household she was 
proficient. I have set down what her son said about her. 
Most of it was confirmed by other witnesses. Her son in- 
sisted that until age began to tell on her she was a hand- 
some woman.^ 

Captain Matthias Hamian lived on Walker's Creek and 
not a great distance from Hezekiah Sellards. He was 
familiar with all the country along the frontier and this 

7 Eev. M. T. Burris says ' ' she was rather dark skinned, dark hair 
and heavy eye bones. ' ' He also says that Thomas Lewis, a pioneer in 
the Big Sandy Valley who knew Mrs. Wiley well, told him that ghe " had 
dark hair, rather heavy eyebones, and dark eyebrows. ' ' Joseph Kelley 
was also a pioneer in the Big Sandy Valley and knew Mrs. Wiley well; he 
told Mr. Burris that she had dark hair. Mr. Burris says that her brothers, 
Thomas and Jack Sellards, had black or dark hair. Mr. Burris did not 
know Mrs. Wiley. Adam P. Wiley was dark of skin, and his hair was 
black. My great grandmother, Mrs. Susan Connelly, knew Mrs. Wiley well; 
she told me that Mrs. Wiley had very dark hair, was tall, handsome form 
and face until old age made her heavy and slow, very intelligent, kindly 
disposition but firm and determined, and a devout and earnest Christian 



26 HARMAN'S STATION 

brought his services into demand by persons seeking new 
lands suitable for settlements. It is said that in the spring 
if 1777 he led a number of settlers from Strasburg, Vir- 
ginia, to Ab's Valley. Thomas and Samuel Wiley were 
members of this party. They were brothers, recently ar- 
rived from the north of Ireland. Samuel Wiley settled in 
Ab's Valley, but Thomas remained at the home of Captain 
Harman, of whom he finally purchased a tract of land. 
This tract of land was on a branch of Walker's Creek im- 
mediately north of the residence of Harman. Wiley built 
a cabin of two rooms with an open space between on his 
land and cleared a field. He courted Jennie Sellards and 
met with many a rebuff from her father whose hostility 
availed nothing, for Jennie looked with favor on the young 
man and they were married. This was in the year 1779. 

There is nothing in the life of Thomas Wiley and his 
wife essential to this account the first few years of their 
married life. They labored to raise corn and other crops. 
Cows and pigs were among their possessions. Wiley did 
not become a good hunter, but he ranged the woods in 
search of ginseng. Children were bom to them. They 
lived the simple lives of pioneers as did their neighbors. 
And their neighbors were few and far between. 

It is necessary here to return to the transactions of 
Matthias Harman.^ Mention has been already made of 
the colony located by him in the vicinity of Ab's Valley. 

8 Matthias Harman was born in or near Strasburg, Virginia, about 
the year 1732. His father, Heinrich Herrmann, came from Prussia 
to Pennsylvania, it is said, and from thence to the vicinity of Strasburg 
while yet a young man, Matthias Harman and his brothers, of whom he 
had several, early became hunters and ranged the woods far and near. 
They joined every expedition into the wilderness made up in their com- 
munity, and it is said that their father also joined these expeditions, 
whether for hunting, exploration, or for war. The Harmans bore the In- 
dian a bitter hatred and believed in his extermination. There came to 
America also, two brothers of Heinrich Herrmann, Adam and Jacob, but 
they came at a later date. These three brothers and their families were 
among the first settlers at Draper's Meadows in 1748. Michael Steiner or 
Stoner, was a cousin to Matthias Harman, and was also an early settler at 



HARMAN'S STATION 27 

He made a number of such settlements in the country west 
of the New Eiver. It had been for thirty years his inten- 
tion to make a settlement at the mouth of John's Creek 
on the Louisa River when the attitude of the Indians 
would permit him to do so with safety. The Indian tribes 
beyond the Ohio and the Cherokees living along the Little 
Tennessee had all to be taken into account. Some vagrant 
bands of Cherokees lived also along the Ohio River at the 
time. Harman was infatuated with the Louisa River 
country because game was more plentiful there than in 
any other region of which he knew. The great Indian 
trails between the Ohio River Indians and the Cherokees 
and other southern tribes lay up the Big Sandy, which ac- 
counts for the fact that the Indians roamed that country 
several years after they had disappeared from all other 
parts of Kentucky. For this colony Harman had enlisted 
a number of his old-time associates and companions in 
wilderness exploration. In 1787 he believed it safe to 

Draper's Meadows. It is said that Casper Mansker, the famous pioneer 
of Tennessee, was in some degree related to the Harmans. These men 
■were called Dutchmen by the early settlers. They were all explorers of 
the wilderness, and hunting became a passion with them. Matthias Har- 
man became infatuated with the life of the woodsman and the dangers of 
the frontier. In woodcraft and Indian warfare it is doubtful if he ever 
had a superior. He was one of the men employed to guide the Sandy 
Creek Voyage, and tradition says that if General Lewis had been governed 
by his judgment the expedition would not have failed of its purpose. He 
and his Dutch companions and relatives slew about forty Cherokees who 
were returning home from assisting the English against Fort Du Quesne 
in 1758, so tradition in the Harman family says, and they justified their 
action by aflSrming that the Indians had stolen horses and cattle from the 
settlers along their route. Tradition in the Big Sandy Valley said that 
Michael Stoner and Casper Mansker were with Harman in this foray, and 
that the party received pay from the colony of Virginia for the scalps of 
the Indians slain and that it amounted to a considerable sum per man. 

These Germans and explorers with whom they were associated became 
familiar vrith every part of the Big Sandy Valley soon after settling at 
Draper's Meadows. They built a lodge or hunters' cabin on the Louisa 
River just below the mouth of John's Creek about the year 1755, and they 
went there to hunt the deer, elk, buffalo, bear, beaver, and other game 
animals and birds every year. Matthias Harman appears to have been the 



28 HARMAN'S STATION 

establish his settlement, and it was agreed that it should 
be made in the winter of 1787-88. 

Harman 's father was yet living. He always went with 
the other jHoueers to hunt in the Big Sandy Valley. Ex- 
cejjt for a few years during the Revolution this hunt had 
been made annually for twenty five years and perhaps 
longer. As the hunters would not return when they went 
out in the fall of 1787, and as Harman, senior, was now 
too old to go with the colony and was desirous of making 
a hunt with his sons this year it was arranged that a party 
would go out for a few weeks prior to the departure to 
build the fort on the Louisa. Where the hunters made 
their camj) cannot now be detennined. It was not far from 
the settlements, and it appears to have been near the head 
waters of both the Tug and Louisa rivers. It is said that 
about twenty hunters went out in this party. Henry Har- 
man and his sons, Henry Skaggs, James Skaggs, Robert 

leader. Associated with him were Henry Skaggs and James Skaggs, fa- 
mous hunters and explorers. 

Matthias Harman was called ' ' Tice " or " Tias ' ' Harman by his 
companions. He was diminutive in size, in height being but little more 
than five feet, and his weight never exceeded one hundred and twenty 
pounds. He had an enormous nose and a thin sharp face. He had aE 
abundance of hair of a yellow tinge, beard of a darker hue, blue eyes 
which anger made green and glittering, and a bearing bold and fearless. 
He jiossessed an iron constitution, and could endure more fatigue and 
privation than any of his associates. He was a dead shot with the long 
rifle of his day. The Indians believed him in league with the devil or 
some other malevolent power because of their numbers he killed, his mirac- 
ulous escapes, and the bitterness and relentless daring of his warfare 
against them. He was one of the Long Hunters, as were others of the 
Hurmans, and more than once did his journeys into the wilderness carry 
him to the Mississippi River. He and the other Harmans able to bear 
arms were in the Virginia service in the War of the Revolution. He is 
said to liave formed the colony which made the first settlement in Ab's 
Valley. He formed the colony which made the first settlement in Eastern 
Kentucky and erected the blockhouse. He brought in the settlers who re- 
built the blockhouse, and for a number of years he lived in the Blockhouse 
liottom or its vicinity. In his extreme old age he returned to Virginia 
and died there. It is said he lived to be ninety-six, but I have not the date 
or jdaco of his death. 



HARMAN'S STATION 29 

Hawes, some of the Damrons, and a man named Draper 
are known to have been of the party that went on this pre- 
liminary hunt. 

As it was the intention of the hunters to remain some 
time in the woods they built a rough camp in which to sleep 
and to shelter their trappings in case of rain. The camp 
must have been near the Indian highway, for one day it 
was surprised and attacked by a roving band of Indians. 
Few particulars of this skirmish have been preserved, 
though the memorj^ of it is widespread. It is said that the 
previous night had been rainy and the morning cloudy and 
damp. The men had not gone out early, and that fortunate 
circumstance saved the camp from destruction, in all prol)- 
ability. The hunters not being beyond hearing of gun- 
shots returned at once, catching the Indian party in the 
rear and defeating the savages in a short time. Robert 
Hawes was wounded in one of his arms. The Indians 
were pressing the party at the camp when the other hunt- 
ers returned. A young Cherokee, son of the chief and 
leader, was armed with bow and arrows only, but he came 
near killing Henry Harman and would possibly have 
done so had not Matthias Hannan killed him with a rifle 
shot. The death of the Indian boy ended the fight. The 
chief carried the body of his son away with him. Matthias 
Harman recognized the Cherokee chief as one of the bold- 
est raiders on the Virginia settlements to be found in all 
the tribes. He stole horses all along the frontier, mur- 
dered families, and carried off plunder of all kinds. Har- 
man had followed him often and had met him in many a 
running fight. A bitter hatred existed between the two 
men, and the Cherokee had tried to destroy Harman 's fam- 
ily several times when Harman was engaged in scouting 
and was absent from home, but his attempts had never 
been successful ; he had frequently driven off horses and 
cattle belonging to Harman. It is said that Harman and 



30 HARMAN'S STATION 

this chief had been friends at one time, and that they were 
both o^uides in thQ Sandy Creek Voyage.' 

^Vhen the Indians disappeared Matthias Harman deter- 
mined to return home at once. He was certain that the 
Cherokee would fall upon the settlements and inflict what 
damage he could, for he was a daring marauder and is 
represented to have been persistent in the pursuit of re- 

9 The traditionary accounts of this Indian attack vary much. In some 
of them little of what actually happened can be found. H. C. Ragland, of 
Logan, West Virginia, confuses it with the Sandy Creek Voyage. Matthias 
Harman, a nephew of the fourth generation from his famous uncle, for 
whom he was named, wrote me the following: 

" William Harman and Aquilla Harman were once out hunting on a 
very cold day and the Indians made a raid upon the settlement in the 
Baptist Valley [and] about this time or 1780 gave the settlers some 
trouble. Henry Harman and his three sons, George Harman, Ed. Harman, 
Tias Harman. and a man by the name of Draper followed them down the 
Tug Fork of Sandy to what is now Warfield where they found the Indians 
<am[)od by a log and Harman fired on them. Draper left them. 

" The Indians shot the old man Harman in the breast with arrow spikes 
until he could not stand without leaning against a tree. His son, George, 
loaded his gun for him. There he stood until he shot six of the Indians 
dead. The seventh was wounded, ran into the Tug River and drowned 
himself. " 

Rev. M. T. Burris included the following account in the manuscript he 
prepared for me : 

" Daniel Harman was a brother of Henry, George and Matthias Har- 
man, the great Indian fighters and early explorers of Tug and Levisa Fork 
of Big Sandy. They had a terrible battle with Indians on Tug River, up 
near the Va. line. They came upon the Indians a little unexpected, George 
HHrnian commanded his squad, and the battle opened in earnest, it seemed 
at first that the Indians would be too much for them; Harman 's boys said 
to him, ' Had we not better retreat and try to save ourselves? ' (A man 
by the name of Draper ran at the first fire.) Harman replied in a de- 
termined voic^, ' No! give them h — 1! When you see me fall it will be 
time to retreat.' At that word the boys took fresh courage and loaded 
and kept blazing away. G. Harman was a brave man; the chief ran up 
flow to him, made motions to Harman to throw down his gun so he could 
fnk<' him a prisoner but he would not, they closed in a scuffle, they were so 
near o«ninlly yoked in strength the Indian could not hold him down; in 
(the] scuffle Harman got hold of the Indian's butcher knife that was in 
hlH iM-lt. and began to use it in earnest, having the Indian by the legs, In- 
dian 'h lirml down, biting Harman 's legs. Harman stabbed him 24 times 
before ho diajMitched him, the others took to their heels, as the Harman 
cotnpiiny wjui j.roving too much for them. The Hannans had a rock [house] 



HARMAN'S STATION 31 

venge, which it was believed he would now seek for his son 
slain in battle. The absence of Hannan and other rifle- 
men from the settlements gave him an opportunity which 
the hunters believed he would not let pass. 

A number of arrowheads remained in the wounds of 
Henry Harman, making his condition serious. On this 
account no pursuit of the Indians was attempted. A litter 

or cave in that region where they camped when on Tug, hunting and ex 
ploring. (These facts I learned from Adam Harman)." 

Adam Harman, here mentioned by Mr. Burris, was a nephew in the 
third generation, of Matthias Harman. While there is much error in these 
meager accounts, they evidently preserve some of the details of the battle 
between the hunters and the Indians. I heard many such accounts as those 
quoted above. The one written in the text was given me by Adam P. 
Wiley. There were some things of which he was uncertain, and my descrip- 
tion of the encounter is deficient in the matter of detail. But I wrote 
down all that I was certain of. 

It is believed that this battle with the Indians by Harman and his 
sons and others was in fact that which is described by Bickley in his 
History of Tazewell County, Virginia. Adam P. Wiley said that Bickley 
had this battle in mind when he wrote his account, and that he was in 
error in many things, particularly the date, locality, the number of per- 
sons engaged on each side, and the important developments which grew 
out of it. 

The late Dr. Witten, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, knew Bickley, and 
was in Tazewell County when his history was published. I have seen a 
letter from him to his son, T. A. Witten, Esq., a lawyer in Missouri, saying 
that Bickley fell into a good many errors, and that these were pointed out 
by the people there upon the appearance of the book. The same letter is 
authority for the assurance that Bickley was conscientious, and that the 
errors in his book were the result of insufflcient research and investigation. 
He places the battle in 1784 and makes nothing of it more than an in- 
significant collision of stragglers, while in fact it was an important meet- 
ing of those contesting for the supremacy of the wilderness. I give his 
account : 

" In the fall of 1784, Henry Harman and his two sons. George and Mat- 
thias, and George Draper, left the settlement to engage in a bear hunt on 
Tug River. They were provided with pack-horses, independent of those 
used for riding, and on which were to be brought in the game. The coun- 
try in which their hunt was to take place was penetrated by the * war-path ' 
leading to and from the Ohio River; but as it was late in the season, they 
did not expect to meet with Indians. 

" Arriving at the hunting-grounds in the early part of the evening, 
they stopped and built thpir camp; a work exocuted generally by the old 
man, who might be said to be particular in having it constructed to his 
own taste. George and Matthias loaded and put their giins in order, and 
started to the woods to look for sign, and perchance to kill a buck for the 



32 HARMAN'S STATION 

was made and the wounded man was sent to his home, 
which was in the vicinity of Ab's Valley, so it is said. 

The surmise of the hunters concerning the intention of 
the Cherokee chief proved correct. He went as directly 
to Walker's Creek as he could from the battlefield. It 
was the judgment of the hunters afterwards when all the 
facts were known that he divided his band and sent a part 

evening repast, while Draper busied himself in hobbling and caring for 
the horses. 

" In a short time George returned with the startling intelligence of 
Indians. He had found a camp but a short distance from their own, in 
which the jiartly consumed sticks were still burning. They could not, of 
course, be at any considerable distance and might now be concealed near 
them, watching their every movement. George, while at the camp, had made 
a rafiid search for sign, and found a pair of leggins, which he showed the 
old man. Now, old Mr. Harman was a type of frontiersman, in some 
things, and particularly that remarkable self-possession, which is so often 
to be met with in new countries, where dangers are ever in the path of the 
settler. So taking a seat on the ground, he began to interrogate his son 
on the dimensions, appearance, &c., of the camp. Wlien he had fully sat- 
isfied himself, he remarked, that ' there must be from five to seven Indians, ' 
and that they must pack up and hurry back to the settlement, to prevent, 
if possible, the Indians from doing mischief; and, said he, '// tee fall in 
mth thrm irc must fipht them.' 

" Matthias was immediately called in, and the horses packed. Mr. 
Harman and Draper now began to load their guns, when the old man ob- 
serving Drajier laboring under what is known among hunters as the ' Buck 
ague,' being that state of excitement which causes excessive trembling, 
remarked to him, ' My son, I fear you cannot fight.' 

" The plan of march was now agreed upon, which was, that Mr. Harman 
and Draper should lead the way, the pack-horses follow them, and Matthias 
and George bring up the roar. After they had started. Draper remarked 
to Mr. Harman. that he would get ahead, as he could see better than Mr. 
Harman, and that he would keep a sharp lookout. It is highly probable 
that he was cogitating a plan of escape, as he had not gone far before he 
declared he saw the Indians, which proved not to be true. Proceeding a 
short distance further, he suddenly wheeled his horse about, at the same 
time crying out, ' Yonder they are — behind that log.' As a liar is not 
to be believed, even when he speaks the truth, so Mr. Draper was not be- 
lieved this time. Mr. Harman rode on, while a large dog he had with him, 
ran up to the log and roared himself upon it, showing no signs of the pres- 
ence of Indians. At this second a sheet of fire and smoke from the Indian 
riflj-s, com|detely concealed the log from view, for Draper had really 
i>I>(>ken the truth. 

' ' Hefore the smoke had cleared away, Mr. Harman and his sons were 
dinmounted, while Draper had fled with all the speed of a swift horse. 
There were seven of the Indians, only four of whom had guns; the rest 
beiny armed with bows and arrows, tomahawks and scalping-knives. As 
Koon ns they fired, they rushed on Mr. Harman, who fell back to where 
hJH minH stood ready to meet the Indians. 

" They iMiiiicdiatcly surrnundcd the three white men, who had formed a 
trian^;))-, each looking out, or. what would have been, with men enough, a 
holii.w H<|unrf. Thr did gcntlenian bid Matthias to reserve his fire, while 
bimiM-lf and (ieorge fired, wounding, as it would seem, two of the Indians. 



IIARMAN'S STATION 33 

of it on to the Cherokee towns, perhaps with the body of 
his son. The hunters believed there were more Indians 
in the party which attacked their camp than in the band 
which fell upon the home of Thomas Wiley. It was known 
later that the party with which the Cherokee attacked the 
settlement was composed of two Cherokees, three Shaw- 
nees, three Wyandots, three Delawares, a total of eleven 
Indians — a mongrel band, a thing not uncommon at that 

Gr€orge was a lame man, from having had white swelling in his childhood, 
and after firing a few rounds, the Indians noticed his limping, and one 
who had fired at him, rushed upon him, thinking him wounded. George 
saw the fatal tomahawk raised, and drawing his gun, prepared to 
meet it. WJien the Indian had got within striking distance, George let 
down upon his head with the gun, which brought him to the ground; he 
soon recovered and made at him again, half bent and head foremost, in- 
tending, no doubt, to trip him up. But as he got near enough, George 
sprang up and jumped across him, which brought the Indian to his knees. 
Feeling for his own knife, and not getting hold of it, he seized the Indian's 
and plunged it deep into his side. Matthias struck him on the head with 
a tomahawk, and finished the work with him. 

" Two Indians had attacked the old man with bows, and were maneuver- 
ing around him, to get a clear fire at his left breast. The Harmans, to a 
man, wore their bullet-pouches on the left side, and with this and his arm 
he so completely shielded his breast that the Indians did not fire till they 
saw the old gentleman 's gun nearly loaded again, when one fired on him, 
and struck his elbow near the joint, cutting one of the principal arteries. 
In a second more, the fearful string was heard to vibrate, and an arrow 
entered Mr. Harman's breast and lodged against a rib. He had by this 
time loaded the gun, and was raising it to his face to shoot one of the 
Indians, when the stream of blood from the wounded artery flew into the 
pan, and so soiled his gun that it was impossible to make it fire. Raising 
the gun, however, had the effect to drive back the Indians, who retreated 
to where the others stood with their guns empty. 

" Matthias, who had remained an almost inactive spectator, now asked 
permission to fire, which the old man granted. The Indian at whom he 
fired appeared to be the chief, and was standing under a large beech tree. 
At the report of the rifle, the Indian fell, throwing his tomahawk high 
among the limbs of the tree under which he stood. 

" Seeing two of their number lying dead upon the ground, and two more 
badly wounded, they immediately made off, passing by Draper, who had 
left his horse, and concealed himself behind a log. 

' ' As soon as the Indians retreated, the old man fell back on the ground 
exhausted and fainting from loss of blood. The wounded arm being tied 
up and his face washed in cold water, soon restored him. The first words 
he uttered were : ' We are whipped ; give me my pipe. ' This was furnished 
him. and he took a whiff, while the boys scalped one of the Indians. 

" When Draper saw the Indians pass him, he stealthily crept from his 
hifling-place, and pushed on for the settlement, where he reported the whole 
partv murdered. The people assembled and started soon the following 
morning to bury them: but they had not gone far before they met Mr. 
Harman and his sons, in too ffood condition to need burying. 

" T"^pon the tree under which the chief was killed, is roughly carved an 
Indian bow. and a eun. in commemoration of the fight. The arrows which 
were shot into Mr. Harman are in possession of some of his descendants. 



34 IIARMAN'S STATION 

time. It was also learned that the party was on the trail 
from the villages beyond the Ohio to the Cherokee towns 
on the Little Tennessee, and that they had come upon the 
camp of the hunters by chance. It was not a war party 
l>ut a roving band such as might be encountered at any 
time in those days in the wilderness/'' 

Mrs. Wiley, upon her return, gave a good description of 
the Indians. She supposed the Cherokee chief to have 
been more than fifty years of age, possibly sixty. He was 
a large man, stern and hard of countenance, resourceful, 
full of energy and quick of mind and body for an Indian, 
nnich more cruel than his companions, and treacherous 
but bold and relentless. His ears and nose were decorated 
with Indian ornaments, among them silver rings of elabor- 
ate workmanship, some of them as much as three inches 
in diameter. He wore buckskin leggins and beaded moc- 
casins, a shirt of red cloth, carried a knife and a tomahawk 
in his belt, had the shot-pouch and powder-horn of the 
white man slung over his left shoulder and under his right 
ann, and was armed with a long rifle which he carried 
nmzzle forward on his shoulder. He was fierce and irasci- 
ble, and Mrs. Wiley stood in much fear of him from the 
first. He had carried away a white woman from some 
Kanawha settlement a few years previous to this raid. 
Many years afterwards it was believed this was a Mrs. 
Tacket, descendants of whom live now in Johnson County, 
Kentucky. 

Among the Shawnees of the band there was a chief, 
lie was an old man and while a warrior he was also a sort 
of medicine man or i)riest. He was of grave and solemn 
nii.'ii. and like the Cherokee, had his nose and ears decor- 
Jited with Indian gewgaws, but these he seldom wore while 

'"Till- iiuiiihiT of liitliiiiiH holonj^ing to the different tribes represented in 
th.. huii.l Mr. Wiley had from his mother. This party was not on the war- 
puth. Tlie Indians were ^o'liK to visit in the Cherokee country. Their 
MUH'tiuK with these hunters was purely accidental. 



HARMAN'S STATION 35 

on the war-path, they being a part of his ceremonial 
regalia. He had a number of small silver brooches strung 
together in chains with which he oraamented himself, and 
he carried rings and other ornaments for his arms, wrists, 
and ankles. He worshiped the New Moon, or performed 
some manner of incantation at the appearance of ever}^ 
new moon. His songs were long and always recited with 
solemn dignity, often sung while he marched about a fire 
kindled for the purpose and upon which he flung some 
substance with which tobacco had been previously mixed. 
Age had not impaired his strength, although he was long 
since done with much of the ardor which had animated his 
youth. He was of a more kindly disposition than the 
other Indians. He did not make such show of his orna- 
ments as did the Cherokee chief who carried a buckskin 
bag containing his silver ornaments, and another also 
which contained ornaments of shell, bone, brass, and cop- 
per. Mrs. Wiley gave good descriptions of the other 
Indians, but it is not necessary to repeat them here. 



CHAPTER IV 

Mrs. Wiley remembered well the state of the weather 
the day the attack was made upon her home. A heavy 
rain began at noon, and soon clouds of fog hung about the 
mountain tops and drifted up the valleys. The autumn 
frosts had turned the forests a sombre hue which showing 
under the dull and leaden sky aroused a sense of melan- 
choly. 

Thomas Wiley was absent from home that day. Before 
daylight he had set out for some trading station with a 
horse laden with ginseng and other marketable commodi- 
ties which he would barter for domestic necessaries. Mrs. 
Wiley's brother, a lad of fifteen, remained with her in the 
absence of her husband. The trading station was a con- 
siderable distance from Wiley's residence, and it was not 
ex])ected that he could reach home until late at night. 

There had been bom to Thomas W^iley and his wife four 
children, the age of the youngest being about fifteen 

lllOlltllS. 

John Borders lived about two miles from the house of 
Wiley. Some of his sheep had broken from an enclosure 
and esca])ed into the woods. Wliile they remained there 
they were in danger of destruction from wolves and other 
wild animals. In the morning of this day Borders had 
gone out to search for his sheep. He had not found them 
when the rain set in. After wandering awhile in the rain 
lie found liiuisolf in the vicinity of AViley's cabin and went 
down to it. Tie found Mrs. Wiley engaged in weaving a 
piece of (•h)tli for use in her family. He called her atten- 
tion to tlu' cries and liootings of owls which could be 
plainly heard from different points in the woods around 



HARMAN'S STATION 37 

the house. He said that he had heard these cries since 
the rain began to fall, but had not heard them before. 
While it was not unusual for the owls to call from moun- 
tain to mountain on dark and rainy days Borders was 
apprehensive that the hootings heard this day came from 
Indians signaling to one another. Indians always used 
the cries of wild animals as such signals. Borders urged 
Mrs. Wiley to take her children to his house and remain 
there over night as a matter of precaution. Mr. Wiley 
would pass his house on his return and could be hailed and 
remain there also. Mrs. Wiley agreed to go as Borders 
requested, but wished first to complete the piece of cloth, 
which would require but a few minutes. As her brother 
could assist her in bringing the children Borders returned 
home at once through the woods and made further search 
for his sheep. 

To follow along the course of the creek it was a mile 
from the cabin of Thomas Wiley to that of Matthias 
HaiTnan, but by the path which led over a low hill the 
distance was less than half a mile. When standing in this 
mountain path on the top of the range if you went down 
to the south you came to Harman's house; by descending 
to the north Wiley's cabin was reached. 

As soon as Borders departed Mrs. Wiley made all haste 
to feed and care for the domestic animals on the farm 
and arrange for her absence from home over night. The 
Indians were always expected in those days, but Mrs. 
Wiley felt no fear. It was her judgment that no attack 
would be made upon any settler until after night came on. 
Usually that course would have been taken by the Indians, 
but in this instance they were anxious to proceed as 
rapidly as possible. 

It was about four o'clock in the afternoon when Mrs. 
Wiley and the children were wrapped and ready to st-art 
to the home of Borders. Suddenly the house was filled 
with Indians. They came in at the open door yelling 



38 HARMAN'S STATION 

the war-whoop and began to strike down the children with 
their tomahawks. Little resistance could be offered by 
Mrs. Wiley. She realized the awful condition she was in, 
but she tried to save her children. She could not reach 
any weapon and could only struggle to protect the little 
ones. Her brother aided her as much as he could until 
he was brained with a tomahawk. Only the youngest child 
remained alive of her children and her brother. She 
caught up this child and fought off the Indians a few 
moments, after which the Shawnee chief found an oppor- 
tunity to seize her and claim her as his captive. This 
angered the Cherokee chief, and a controversy arose. Mrs. 
AViley learned in some way from the actions of the two 
chiefs and what they said that they supposed themselves 
at the house of Matthias Harnian. She made haste to 
infoiTn them that they were not at the Harman residence 
and told them her name. It appears that there had been 
some doubt as to which was Harman 's house in the minds 
of the savages. For the time being Mrs. Wiley's life was 
spared, also that of the child she had in her arms. Her 
slain children and her brother were scalped before her 
eyes. 

The Indians found that their plans had miscarried, 
'i'lic family of their arch enemy had escaped, though they 
lia<l ])erpetrated a bloody deed in the settlement. The 
('herokee insisted that Mrs. Wiley and her child should 
Ik* killed at once and a descent made upon Harman's house. 
The Shawnee chief believed that the hunters would return 
lliat (lay and that they would meet with resistance at the 
I larman ca])in. It was his opinion that they should make 
their escajjc from the settlements and continue their jour- 
ney, for ]iursuit was certain. The Cherokee was equally 
(•(•rtain that thoy would be followed by the settlers and 
was liiially ))r()ught to the opinion of the Shawnee, but he 
pointed out that they could not escape if they carried any 
prisoners. The Shawnee chief contended for his right to 



■7C 



'< 



o 3 




a 



HARMAN'S STATION 39 

take a captive and carry her to his town. It was finally 
decided that the Shawnee might retain his captive for tlie 
time being, though it necessitated, as they believed, a re- 
turn to the Indian towns beyond the Ohio. Their decision 
to follow this course saved Mrs. Wiley's life. She did not 
know what the Indians were saying, and only came to know 
what had passed long afterwards when she understood 
the Shawnee language. Both chiefs could speak English 
a little, but this discussion had been carried on in the 
Indian tongue. The Shawnee chief infonned her that he 
had saved her life that she might take the place of his 
daughter who had recently died, the last of his children." 

The Indians set the house on fire, but such torrents of 
rain were falling that it did not completely burn. They 
entered the woods at a point near the house. Darkness 
was coming rapidly on. Mists and the black clouds of 
night swallowed up the valley and shut out the view. Mrs. 
Wiley's dog came hesitatingly after them and was per- 
mitted to follow her. They ascended a hill north of the 

11 In all his recitals to me Mr. Wiley never omitted to include the 
fact that his mother -nas to be the daughter of the Shawnee chief. The 
formal adoption, he insisted, could not be made until the Indians reached 
the towns of the Shawnees, consequently she could not be given in marriage 
to any one before they reached there. Being, to all intents and purposes, 
the daughter of the chief, Mr. Wiley maintained that his mother was safe 
from violation and escaped that humiliation. I have heard statements to 
the effect that an Indian daughter was bom to Mrs. Wiley after her es- 
cape and return to the Virginia settlements. Mr. Burris writes me that 
he has heard the same thing. I have been told that Adam P. Wiley was 
the son of the Shawnee. That was certainly untrue, for Mr. Wiloy was 
born in 1798. Some versions of the captivity of Mrs. Wiley had it that 
she was carried to Old Chillicothe and that her sale to the Cherokee oc- 
curred there, after which she was carried to the old Indian town at the 
mouth of Little Mudlick Creek by the Cherokee as his wife. 

There was never any uniformity in these versions, and they always ap- 
peared to me as mere conjecture of those having indefinite information. 
It was natural, of course, for Mr. Wiley to believe that his mother escaped 
violation. It is the province of the historian to state all the facts in his 
possession, and I have performed that duty to accuracy in historical ac- 
counts in this instance. 



40 HARMAN'S STATION 

house, marching in Indian file headed by the Cherokee 
chief, the Shawnee chief being hindmost with Mrs. Wiley, 
her child in her arms, just in front of him. 



CHAPTER V 

After leaving Wiley's house the Indians took a general 
course leading to the head of Walker's Creek. They fol- 
lowed mountain ways and short cuts from one valley to 
another, coming to Brushy Mountain, which they crossed 
to the head waters of Wolf Creek. When the night was 
far advanced they halted in a large rockhouse^^ in the 
range between Wolf Creek and the Bluestone River. 
There they made a fire under the overhanging rock and 
broiled some venison which a Cherokee took from a pack 
he carried by thongs on his back. They made a hasty meal 
of this venison, which appeared to refresh them all, and 
when the rain ceased they again set forward after extin- 
guishing the fire and concealing as far as possible all traces 
of its existence. It was still quite dark. The dull dawn 
found them on the head waters of the Bluestone, branches 
of which river they waded as they came to them, though 
all were running high from the recent rains. They crossed 
the Great Flat Top Mountain and ascended the south end 
of one of those ridges lying in the watershed between 
Guyandotte and Tug rivers. This rough range extends 
almost to the Ohio. The great Indian trail up the Tug 

12 The term " rockhouse " is heard only in the South, and principally 
in the region of the AUeghanies south of Pennsylvania. It is not used in 
connection with a cave. It does not apply to a cave ; a cave is entirely dis- 
tinct from a rockhouse. A rockhouse is the open space beneath an over- 
hanging rock or cliff. Rockhouses are sometimes of large extent T have 
know-n them to be used as stables for horses and cattle. They are the 
favorite resorts of sheep in summer. They are cool and pleasant in the 
warmest weather, but having a large opening along the entire front they are 
poor protection from cold in winter. They are found only where the pre- 
vailing rocks are sandstone. 



42 HARMAN'S STATION 

River often followed along its tortuous and uneven crest 
and from that cause it was long known as Indian Ridge, 
especially in its southern reaches. 

The Indians made no halt during this day's travel until 
late in the afternoon, when, believing themselves beyond 
any immediate danger of being overtaken by the whites, 
they made a camp in a rockhouse in the head of a creek 
below the crest of the mountain. They had not killed any 
game during the day, although both bear and deer were 
in sight more than once. Their meal consisted of venison 
from the pack of the Cherokee. This venison was dried 
until hard, but the Indians held it in the flames of their 
camp fire until it was cooked a little, then they ate it. Mrs. 
Wile}' ate some of it, also some parched com from the wal- 
let of one of the Indians. She was exhausted with the long 
and rough march of twenty-four hours she had been forced 
to make. She had climbed mountains and waded streams ; 
she had forced her way through thickets of laurel and ivy, 
and had tramped through quagmires and over stones ; she 
had been compelled to ascend almost perpendicular cliffs 
and to descend sheer precipices. Much of the time she 
had been drenched to the skin. Her child was in great 
distress and had cried until it could cry no more because 
of hoarseness. At this camp she saw the warriors make 
hoops of green boughs and over them stretch the scalps 
of her brother and her children. In after life she often 
declared that at no other time did despair so take hold 
of her as it did this second night of her captivity. 

When the Indians lay down to sleep they bound Mrs. 
Wiley with strips of raw deer skin. She was in a state of 
ner\'ous delirium and could not sleep, neither could she 
rest. Every time she closed her eyes she seemed to be- 
liold the slaughter of her children anew, and more than 
onct' she shrieked aloud. Her cries aroused the old 
Shawnee, wlio finally unbound her. He lighted a torch 
.•ind c.-irricd it into the woods, retuming soon with some 



^ 



B' 




HARMAN'S STATION 43 

leaves from which he made an infusion in a small vessel 
he carried. He gave her some of this preparation to 
drink, after which she fell into a troubled sleep that con- 
tinued through the night. 

The Shawnee chief aroused Mrs. Wiley before the dawn. 
The Indians were preparing to depart. She was given 
some corn and venison for the morning meal, and the whole 
party again set forward. The mountain streams were 
running bank full from the recent heavy rain, and the 
Indians avoided them as much as possible by keeping to 
the paths which followed the ridges. It was with much 
diificulty that Mrs. Wiley could proceed. She was urged 
by the Indians to quicken her pace, but her progress was 
slow and painful. The only thing which enabled her to 
drag herself along was the fear that if she failed to keep 
up with the Indians they would kill her child. More than 
once was this proposed by the Cherokee chief, and it was 
acquiesced in by all the band save the old Shawnee. As 
the day advanced the reserve forces of her strong consti- 
tution came to her aid and she made better time, but her 
marching was not satisfactory to the Indians. 

AAHien the Indians were starting out this morning they 
sent two of their number back over the trail to keep watch 
for the whites, for they were confident that the hunters 
would follow them. Some of the younger members of the 
band believed the hea%^ rains had washed out their trail, 
but the Cherokee said such was not the case, especially if 
they should be followed by Matthias Harman. This wjis 
one of his strong arguments in favor of killing Mrs. 
Wiley's child. It was with difficulty that the old Shawnee 
withstood the demands of the Cherokee chief. 

At the end of this day 's march an encampment was made 
in a location much like that of the preceding night. The 
Indians halted before the sun was down because one of 
their number had killed a fat bear at the time, and tliey 
feasted most of the night. Though the march bad been 



44 HARMAN'S STATION 

severe the distance passed had been much less than was 
covered during the same time of the day before, and Mrs. 
Wiley's condition had improved somewhat, but her feet 
were terribly bruised and blistered. She had little hope 
that her child would live through the night. There being 
nothing better at hand she rubbed it well with bear's 
grease, and at the suggestion of the Shawnee chief she 
forced it to swallow some of the melted fat. This seemed 
in a measure effective, for the morning showed improve- 
ment in the child's health. The Shawnee chief made a 
decoction of some leaves boiled with the inner layers of 
the bark of the white oak, which he caused Mrs. Wiley to 
a|)i)ly to her feet, and which gave her immediate relief. 
An additional application in the morning caused still 
further improvement, and this, together with the improved 
condition of her child, caused Mrs. Wiley to begin the day 
with more hope than she began the previous one. The 
party left the camp before it was light and continued the 
journey in the direction of the Ohio. A heavy rain had 
fallen in the night, and it rained most of the day. A terri- 
fic storm of wind and rain drove the party under a cliff 
shortly before darkness came on, and they built a fire and 
cam]ied there. That camp was in the hills just west of 
tlie liead of Twelve Pole Creek. The Indian scouts who 
had been sent back each day reported late at night, and 
liore tliey said they had seen no pursuers on their trail. 

Tlie Indians left their camp, as was their custom, on the 
following morning before it was light. Insufficient food 
and the continuous marching was rapidly exhausting Mrs. 
Wiley, and she found herself unable to move forward so 
rapidly as on the previous day. She was failing under 
liar(lsiii])s and the burden of her child. The Shawnee 
cliief warned her of the consequences of failing to keep up 
with the warriors. But try as she might she could not 
satisfy licr captors. 

Tile Indians who had been sent back as scouts this 



HARMAN'S STATION 45 

morning returned late in the day and reported that they 
had seen a large party of white men on horseback follow- 
ing their trail. This was not unexpected intelligence, but 
the Indians discussed earnestly what it was best to do in 
the matter. Some proposed an ambush of the white men, 
but this was not taken as the best course to follow. The 
Cherokee chief proposed the immediate death of the child 
and a change of course. Mrs. Wiley promised to keep up 
with the march, and with the aid of the Shawnee chief 
saved the life of the child for a time. The Indians turned 
west and descended the hills toward Tug River. They 
sought a small stream and waded down it until it became 
too deep for that purpose, when they changed to another. 
Mrs. Wiley kept well up for a few miles, then began to 
fail. Despite her utmost exertions she could not march 
at the rate the Indians were then going. She fell behind 
the Indians marching in front of her, and began to feel 
that her child was in great danger. She suspected that 
her friends were near, although the Indians had told her 
nothing. At length the Cherokee chief stopped. He was 
leading the march, and he and most of the party were far 
in advance. Mrs. Wiley knew what he would do when 
he came back to her place in the line. His arrival there 
meant death for her child and possibly death for herself. 
The Shawnee chief was following her in the water. Mrs. 
Wiley ran out of the stream and with her last strength 
ran back up its course with her child." She had no partic- 

13 This stream flows into Tug Elver. It is the first stream of any 
considerable size on the West Virginia side below Marrowbone Creek. 
The Indians waded down the last named creek until it got too deep to 
allow rapid traveling; then they crossed the mountain to the creek upon 
which Mrs. Wiley's child was killed. Ever since the country has been 
settled this creek has been called Jennie's Creek, in honor of Mrs. Wiley. 
After she moved to Kentucky Mrs. Wiley went to this creek and identified 
the place where her child was killed; she identified the big beech tree 
against which the Cherokee chief dashed out its brains. This tree was 
preserved, and it was standing twenty years ago, since which time I have 
not heard anything concerning it. 



46 HARMAN'S STATION 

ular object in doing this except to carry her child out of 
danger, and that was a vain effort. The old Shawnee was 
surprised, but he ran after her and caught her just as the 
Clierokee chief came up. She was surrounded by the 
Indians. The Cherokee chief seized her child by the feet 
and dashed out its brains against a big beech tree. He 
scalped it, and she was pushed back into the stream and 
forced to continue her flight. 

It was almost dark when the party reached the Tug 
Eiver, which they found much swollen from the recent 
rains. x\s the Indians arrived on its banks a violent 
thunder storm broke over the valley. The Indians realized 
that in crossing the river at once lay their only hope of 
escape from the party in pursuit. Their only means of 
crossing the stream was by swimming. With the river at 
the stage at which they found it that was a dangerous 
undertaking. At all times a swift mountain stream, it was 
now a raging torrent covered with drift and all manner of 
river-rubbish. Mrs. Wiley was amazed and terrified when 
told she must cross the mad stream by swimming in com- 
pany with the Indians. In the gathering gloom its con- 
tortions were visible only by the fierce flashes of lightning 
that burned in the heavens. It seemed impossible for 
any one to survive a conflict with this raging river. But 
she was seized by two Shawnees and dragged screaming 
into the surging flood. One swam on either side of her. 
They gras])ed her fiiTnly by her arms and swam easily and 
swiftly. They went with the current of the stream and 
avoided the drift with the dexterity of otters. Their 
])()sition was almost upright with much of the body above 
the water ; and they ])ushed but slightly against the current 
but were all the time working themselves toward the op- 
posite shore. After being carried down the river what 
seenieil to Mrs. Wiley several miles they were all cast to 
tile west bank and found themselves in "dead" water 
in the mouth of a small creek. There it was much more 



HARMAN'S STATION 47 

difficult to swim and support the captive above the water, 
but they succeeded in effecting a landing. The whole 
party was exhausted and some time was spent in resting, 
after which the journey was continued. The Indians 
waded up the stream into the mouth of which they had 
been cast by the river. It led up into a very rough moun- 
tain covered with bristling thickets of laurel and ivy. The 
storm cleared and the air became chill as they descended 
the mountain range they were crossing. A large rock- 
house was sought at the base of the range and a small fire 
made in it and the blaze screened. The Indians left tliis 
camp at dawn, and in the afternoon reached tlie Louisa 
River. There they cooked and ate a small deer which 
had been killed on the march and which made an insuffi- 
cient meal for the party. The Louisa River was found 
full to the brim. After resting until almost dark the In- 
dians crossed it as they had crossed the Tug. They went 
into camp under a cliff behind a mountain and built a 
roaring fire about which all slept through the night. In 
the early light of the following morning they sent out two 
of their number to hunt. In a short time the hunters re- 
turned with part of a buffalo they had killed in a cane- 
brake. The day was spent in eating and sleeping. The 
Indians believed they had made a complete escape from 
their pursuers and did not again give that subject any 
serious consideration. As the sun was nearing the tops 
of the hills in the western range the party set forward 
again. They followed a trail which led through valleys 
and over rough hills, but they marched in a leisurely way. 
It was well for Mrs. Wiley that they made no fon^ed marcli- 
«s for she was by this time worn out. The loitering march- 
es brought the Indians to the Ohio River on the ninth day 
of Mrs. Wiley's captivity. 



CHAPTER VI 

The Indians did not descend directly to the Ohio, but 
came down the hills west of the Big Sandy and followed, 
that stream about a mile to its mouth. They found an 
immense flood in the Ohio, something they said was unus- 
ual for that season of the year. This flood increased the 
difficulty of their retreat. Notwithstanding this fact, how- 
ever, the Indians appeared much pleased to reach the Ohio. 
The younger members of the band exclaimed "O-hi-yoT 
O-hi-yo ! O-hi-yo ! ' ' seemingly in great delight. 

How to cross the Ohio was now the question for the 
Indians. They discussed the matter for some time with- 
out arriving at a satisfactory conclusion and finally re- 
turned to the hills to avoid the backwater, pushed far up 
the small streams, and kept down the Ohio. Much of the 
time tliey were not in sight of the Ohio. They reached the 
mouth of the Little Sandy River without finding any means 
to cross the Ohio and again held council to determine upon 
a course. They were assisted in a decision apparently 
by the return of two Indians whom they had sent back 
from the crossing of the Louisa River to spy upon the 
movements of the pursuing party. Their report was de- 
livered (lilt of the hearing of Mrs. Wiley who was begin- 
ning to understand a few words of the different Indian 
tongues. After several hours spent in talk the party 
divided. Tlie Cherokee chief, the Cherokee warrior, two 
\\'>an<lots, and two Delawares swam across the Little 
Sandy River and disappeared in the woods. 

The remaining Indians, witli Mrs. Wiley, took their 
way up tlic Little Sandy. They appeared to be in no 




:\ris. Wil.y rescuing her child from the liidinu Oi-ileal in the Cherokee 

Fork of Big Hhiine Creek 



liAKMAN'S STATION 49 

hurry. They left the main stream at the month of the 
J)ry Pork, which they followed to the head of one of its 
branches. They crossed the divide through the Cherokee 
Gap to the Cherokee Fork of Big Blaine Creek. As they 
were descending this creek Mrs. Wiley became seriously 
ill, but she concealed her condition from the Indians as 
long as possible, fearing she might be killed should they 
discover the tiiith. It soon became impossible for her to 
proceed, however, and the Indians went into camp near 
the mouth of the creek. They placed Mrs, Wiley in a small 
roekhouse near the camp and left her alone. There a son 
was born to her. The birth was |)remature and she was 
near death for some time, but she finally recovered and 
the child lived. She attributed her recovery to a season 
of fine weather which came on. The Indians brought her 
meat from the game they killed and from the first of her 
illness kept her a fire; but as soon as slie could walk they 
left her to gather her own fire-wood. Knowing that it 
was impossible for her to escape the Indians paid little 
attention to her. 

The Indian party spent the winter in camj) at the mouth 
of Cherokee Creek and allowed Mrs. Wiley to live alone 
in the roekhouse with her child. She lost all account of 
time. She did not know the day of the week from the 
time they went into camp there until she made her escape. 
The Shawnee chief gave her child a name. The sojourn 
at this place was uneventful but for one instance. One 
day when the weather was becoming wanner the Shawnee 
chief came to the roekhouse and said the child was "three 
moons, ' ' meaning that its age was then about three months. 
He informed her that he was mjiking preparations to give 
it the first test a boy was expected to undergo, lie nuide 
no explanation and soon left the roekhouse. He returned 
in a short time and commanded her to take the child and 
follow him. He led her to the creek where the other In- 
dians were assembled. The chief tied tlu? child to a large 



50 HARMAN'S STATION 

slab of diy bark and set it adrift in the swift water of a 
small slioal. The child began to cry as soon as it felt the 
cold water, and this action seemed to condemn it in the 
minds of the warriors. They brandished their toma- 
hawks, and Mrs. Wiley rushed into the water and rescued 
the infant, immediately returaing to the rockhouse with it. 
The Indians followed her, and when they arrived at the 
rockhouse the Wyandot killed the child with his tomahawk 
and immediately proceeded to scalp it. She was not mo- 
lested, but she saw that the Indians were very angry. She 
was pei-mitted to bury the child in a corner of the rock- 
house. 

Soon after the murder of her child and while the streams 
were full from melting snow the Indians left their camp at 
the mouth of Cherokee Creek. Mrs. Wiley was not strong 
but was forced to keep up with the party. They followed 
a trail which led up Hood's Fork of Big Blaine Creek. 
Crossing through a gap at the head of one of its branches 
they came to the Laurel Fork, which they followed to that 
fine rolling country now known as Flat Gap, in Johnson 
County. From that point they followed a small stream to 
the main branch of Big Mudlick Creek, which they de- 
scended to the great buffalo lick from which the stream 
derived its name. They camped at the lick in hope of kill- 
ing some game, but none came during their stay. They 
broke camp one morning at dawn and went down the 
creek, arriving during the day at an old Indian town at the 
mouth of Little Mudlick Creek. The actions of the In- 
<liaii.s there made Mrs. Wiley suppose that the end of their 
journey had been reached and that they would remain for 
some time. As that is a somewhat remarkable location 
and the Indians kept Mrs. Wiley there until the follow- 
ing October a description of some of its most prominent 
features will not be out of place here. 

I -ittle Mudlick Creek is about three miles in length. In 
<li\ MimiiKMs there are times when little water can be 



th 



lo r t U 



^"-^i^ 



TVf AT 

i K t C o IX 11 t I- V ft b ( 11 1 t lit ^^ 
inoutli t^ LittK /Vfui- 



N 



2. .S'eoMi FdiljL/WixiL It k 
^ T/.i.<i /"diuj Cri^eK . 
4; ficcHhou.ce. o< Cdve wha.«. 
Jennie Wwev i^ar /lept 
tv^» b, tlie li, iV...j in /TtfjIiiii-Ke-i X 
•^//•ih Xock, c.v^^.i .v.th I.,Jx.. 



HARMAN'S STATION 51 

found in its bed. Its general course is from north to 
south, but it falls into Big Mudlick Creek from the east. 
It joins the larger stream about half a mile from where 
Big Mudlick and Big Paint Creek unite. A short distance 
above the junction of the Mudlick creeks each stream flows 
through narrows or gorges f onned by their having broken 
through a range of low hills and cut deep channels in 
ledges of sandstone. In the space enclosed between the 
two streams there is a perfectly level tract, a miniature 
table-land or plateau, which runs from near their junction 
back several hundred feet to a succession of low hills. The 
beds of the streams are as much as two hundred feet below 
this plateau, the edges of which are perpendicular and 
overhang the creeks. These overhanging cliffs contain 
caves and fissures or rockhouses and projecting ledges of 
sandstone to which it is difficult to gain access. At some 
points the rock is steep and bare from the surface of the 
water to its utmost height. In other places great masses 
of sandstone are broken from the main ledges and lie 
piled about the base of the cliffs in great confusion. The 
broader ledges, huge crevices, and long interstices in these 
cliffs are thickly grown with laurel and ivy, shrubs indi- 
genous to the sandstone hills and cliffs of the South. At 
the base and far up the sides of the cliffs at points where 
sufficient footing exists grow huge hemlocks, gnarled chest- 
nuts, and misshapen black pines, many of these overhang- 
ing the creeks. Interspersed with these are holly-trees 
covered in winter with scarlet berries. Along the creeks 
are willows and sycamore trees and sometimes slender 
birches. The creek bottoms were formerly covered with 
beech trees which long since fell before the axe of the 
backwoodsman. The steep ravines are choked with thick- 
ets. The plateau itself is covered with a thin and strag- 
gling growth of stunted trees and indigenous shrubs. 

On the face of the cliff overhanging the waters of the 
larger creek were formerly found many Indian liiero,i>:lyi>h- 



52 II ARM AX'S STATION 

ics and strange pictiiies. These pictures were usually 
skeleton drawings of animals native to the country, such 
as the l)uffalo, hear, deer, panther, wolf, turkey, and a few 
of turtles and rattlesnakes. These figures were put on 
tlie cliifs with hlack or red paint: no other colors were 
used. Tliere was no mixing of colors; there were red 
grou])s and hlack grou])s, hut nowhere were the two colors 
found in the same group. In no instance were the figures 
cut or scratched into the rock. Time, thoughtless and 
mischievous vandalism, and the weather have destroyed 
them all. In 1850, it is said, some of the gi-oups were 
faintly visihle, and as late as 1880 one group of deer in 
hlack, on the cliff over the larger creek, was yet very 
distinct." 



n When .loliDBon County, Ki'iitucky. was first settled there were 
found alonj^' the Indian trail from the mouth of ?^Iudlick Creek to the 
mouth of Big Paint Creek occasional trees which had been stripped of their 
bark from the ground to a considerable height, sometimes as far up as thirty 
feet. Often a tree had the bark stripped from but one side, which made 
a dry hard surface on that side of the tree, while the other side still lived 
and preserved the tree. Trees thus treated were found all along the trail, 
but at some points there would be found groups of them all of which had 
been so denuded. The smooth surface thus provided was covered by the 
Indians with outline figures of animals and birds, put on with a tenacious 
and lasting paint of two colors only — black and i"ed. As it is not known 
that trees thus treated and marked were found at any other place in the 
I'liited StJites this circumstance may be regarded as very remarkable. The 
signification of these paintings was never discovered, and it is not known 
whether they were made by but one tribe or by all the tribes inhabiting 
the Dhio Valley. Trees so marked were to be found all along the valley 
of the Big Sandy, inchuling both branches, but so far as I could ever dis- 
I'liver no locality had them in so great abundance as the country around the 
lower course of Big Paint Creek. Whether the custom had prevailed among 
the tribes for ages, or whether it was of recent date and origin was never 
known. It is known that the Shawnees, Delawares, Wyandots, Toteros, 
( litToktis, iintl Iroquois, regarded the Big Sandy Valley with peculiar and 
laHting veneration. They clung to it with tenacity, and it was the last 
Mreain in Kentucky to ho surrendered by them. It was a favorite valley of 
the Mouiiil Builders, as evidenced by many remains of their occupation. 

Big I'aint Creek is a large and rapid stream. Just below the town of 
T'aintBville if flows over an inclined sandstone bed. This point has various 
Inen! un»ne«, Huoh as the " flat rock," " flat rock ford," etc. The incline 
i« »hj4rp. iiiid the >\ater in passing over it was carried with force suflicient 



HARMAN'S STATION 5;j 

Beyond each of the creeks the plateau is irregularly 
continued. To the east across the smaller creek there is a 
mound-like hill the base of which rests upon an expanse 
of country of the same elevation as tlie plateau. To the 
north between the smaller stream and Big J^aint C'reCU 
stand two such hills with bases resting upon a similai" 
elevation. To the west beyond the larger creek the contin- 
uation of the plateau is narrow, a ledge of sandstone with 
its east and south sides almost ])er])endicular. At a little 
distance south of this ledge and entirely detached from it 
is a large mass of sandstone with sides nearly perpendic- 
ular. This rock rises from the low-lying creek bottom 
and has a flat top of considerable area which can be reached 
with difficulty. From this elevation to the mouth of Big 

to excavate in the bed of the creek below it a very deep pool and to cut 
away the banks, giving the expansion the appearance of a lake through 
which the creek ran. In early times the pool was spoken of as bottomless, 
so great was its depth, and it was always spoken of in my time as ' ' the 
deep hole. ' ' The principal boat yards of the Big Sandy Valley were around 
this remarkable pool ; hundreds of barges for carrying tan bark, hoop poles, 
staves, sawed lumber, and other ])roducts of that country wt're built upon 
its banks. 

Upon the south bank of the creek against the ' ' flat rock ford " is a 
low cliff, beneath which there is a small rockhouse which would afford 
shelter for fifty or sixty people. This locality seemed to hold a fascination 
for the Indians. On the top of the cliff a great elm had been stripped of 
its bark to a height of thirty feet or more. Winding about the tree and 
encircling all the smooth surface made by taking off the bark was a huge 
rattlesnake put on with black paint. Many other trees in the vicinity 
were stripped or partly stripped of their bark, and painted, various an! 
mals of the country being represented. One tree in the upper end of the 
creek bottom in which is situated the town of Paintsville, on the spot where 
Rev. Henry Dickson (Dixon, it is now written by his descendants) built a 
grist mill to be operated by horse, mule, or ox power, and called by the early 
settlers a " horse mill," was painted; it was a giant elm, and it bore a 
huge bear put on with red paint. 

There were many salt springs or " licks " in the vicinity of where 
Paintsville was located. Several of them were at the foot of the hills back 
of the town and are now covered by the washings from the cleared hillsides 
above them. The trees about these licks were painted by the Indians, the 
characters being of the same nature as those already described. From this 
cause the first hunters and explorers of the country called these licks 
" painted licks," and they named the stream ii\<ou which they were found 



54 HARMAN'S STATION 

Mudlick Creek it is half a mile, and the land is a bottom 
lying just above overflow. This creek bottom is an old 
Indian field. At the time of the coming of the white man 
it contained many mounds. There is one very large mound 
or mound-shaped hill covered with broken sandstone. 
Human bones, stone axes, spear and arrow heads of flint, 

Paint Lick Creek, and it is so marked on the map of Kentucky in the 
1797 edition of Imlay's America. The name was given by Matthias Har- 
man and his associates. When Colonel John Preston, Judge French, and 
others of Virginia who speculated in the lands of the Louisa Eiver Valley, 
wished to name the trading station which they established on the present 
site of Paintsville in 1790, they called it Paint Lick. The Eev. Henry 
Dickson came from North Carolina and bought the land about the old 
station and laid out the present town and named it Paintsville. Prestons- 
burg was also founded by Col. Preston and others, and first called Preston's 
Station. The station was established in 1799. After Vancouver left the 
forks of the Big Sandy a town was established there and named Balclutha. 
On the Imlay map already mentioned Paint Lick and Balclutha are both 
marked. To Johnson County belongs the honor of having within her bounds 
the sites of both the first and second settlements made in the Big Sandy 
Valley and in Eastern Kentucky. 

Above the mouth of Big Paint Creek there is a river bottom extending 
up the Louisa River about a mile. At a point near the creek bank, and at 
an equal distance from the river, there is a large mound, the work of pre- 
historic inhabitants of the valley. Several hundred feet up the river, and 
directly south of this mound, there is another, not quite so large. At an 
equal distance south of this second mound there is a third one a little 
smaller than the second. And there is at an equal distance south from 
this third mound a fourth one still a little smaller than the third. There 
is a mound just back of the rockhouse overlooking the flat rock ford. These 
mounds were covered with large trees when first seen by white men. The 
original public highway up the Big Sandy Eiver was laid out to cut the 
north side of the second mound. In making this public road the mound 
was cut, and the skeleton of a man of large size was found. It was en- 
closed in a sort of rude box made by placing flat thin river stones about 
and over it. It was on the land of Valentine Van Hoose, and I saw one of 
his sons wantonly destroy the skull of this skeleton. The large mound was 
opencMl a few years since, and the skeleton of a man was found, or rather 
the plain imprint of one, but the bones had perished. These mounds were 
made of layers of different kinds of earth, and there were several layers 
of ('lf>un river sand in them. Layers of ashes and charcoal were found, in- 
difating that it may have been the custom of the builders to burn their 
doad there, or place the ashes of their dead there after the bodies had been 
burned at some other yilace. The Cherokee Indians said to the early set- 
tlers there, in speaking of these mounds: " There is fire in all those 
moimdH. " What thoy meant by this statement they could not explain. 




The Falls of Ijittlc Mudlick Civck in Wint.-r 

\ I'liiihiiiifipli hji Liillnr. Loiii.'ii. A'//. I 



HARMAN'S STATION 55 

carved shells, and stone pipes were here turned uj) hi 
great abundance by the plows of the first settlers. 

The diminutive gorge of Little Mudlick Creek is a thing 
of wild and romantic beauty. The first fall is but ten feet. 
One hundred feet below is a fall of about six feet, below 

Many pipes, arrowheads, spearheads, and stone axes wore found in and 
about these mounds. The best specimen of the stone axe I ever saw was 
found there by my nephew and is now in my collection. 

To the southwest of Paintsville and in plain view of the town there is a 
solid sandstone ledge rising from the top of a hill to a height far above 
the surrounding forest. This immense mass of sandstone is locally known 
as the " hanging rock." On the hilltop back of this great cliff there 
are a number of Indian graves covered with a great quantity of loose 
sandstone fragments which have evidently been carried there from a con- 
siderable distance. Indian graves of this description are very common in 
East-em Kentucky, and they are always found on the tops of ridges. I 
never saw any account of such graves in any work on the Mound Builders. 

Above the small cliff at the ' ' flat rock ford ' ' the first explorers found 
a number of decaying cabins. The Ohio Indians said that they and the 
French had built them many years before, and that they had lived there. 
They also said that the Toteros or Shatara Indians had lived there before 
they built the cabins. These Totero Indians had a town on the Lick Fork 
of Jennie's Creek, extending from the forks of that stream to the point 
now known as Hager Hill. The Shawnees and Cherokees pointed out to the 
early settlers the sites of many towns occupied by the Totero Indians. I 
shall locate them in some future work. 

It is a tradition in our family that some of the Connellys, probably 
Harmon Connelly and his brother Thomas, Daniel Boone, Matthias Har- 
man, Walter Mankins, and a number of other parties, among them James 
Skaggs and Henry Skaggs, descended the Louisa River about 1768 in 
search of a suitable place to settle. They camped about these old cabins 
at the mouth of Big Paint Creek for six weeks. The river and creek bot- 
toms were covered with a rank growth of cane, much of it so high that 
it would conceal a man on horseback. The fierceness of the Indians made 
it impossible for them to locate there then. They killed much game. Great 
herds of buffalo roamed the country at the time. .lohn Howe, Esq , the 
famous millwright, son-in-law- of Rev. Henry Dickson, has often told me of 
this journey of the Connellys, Boone, and others. He also said that the 
river was sometimes so full of buffalo wallowing in the shoals that it was 
impossible to get a canoe either up or down until the shaggy animals had 
departed. Mr. Howe and many other pioneers of Johnson County have 
often told me that Simon Kenton occupied the old cabins at the mouth of 
Big Paint Creek two winters, or parts of two winters, 1773-74 and 1774-75. 
He hunted in that region during those winters and it is very probable that 
the old settlers were right in saying he lived in one of these old cabins. 



56 HARMAN'S STATION 

which the stream expands into a lakelet fringed with 
mountain evergreens. A short distance below this lakelet 
the stream plunges some fifty or sixty feet into pools 
overhung with the ever-present mountain evergreens. 
From this point the stream has a rapid descent over shoals 
of boulders and brook-stones to the larger creek. The 
gorge was heavily timbered with hemlocks, oaks, beeches, 
holly-trees, laurel and ivy. 

The Shawnees told Mrs. Wiley that in ancient times 
their ancestors had their villages about the junction of the 
Mudlick creeks, also all along Big Paint Creek from the 
mouth of Big Mudlick Creek to the Big Sandy River. They 
also told her that they never passed through that part of 
the country without visiting Little Mudlick Creek and the 
country about their ancient village. 



CHAPTER VII 

The Indians holding Mrs. Wiley in captivity arrived at 
the mouth of Little Miidlick Creek about the first of April, 
possibly as much as a week or ten days earlier tlian that. 
They took up their abode in a rockhouse in the face of the 
cliff on the east side of the plateau. This rockhouse was 
just below the falls of Little Mudlick Creek, but at a higher 
elevation in the cliff than is the bed of the creek at the falls. 
The ledge at the entrance of the rockhouse overhangs the 
creek which runs a hundred feet or more below it, and the 
entrance is sixty feet at least below the top of the cliff. It 
is reached by following a narrow ledge along the face of 
the cliff from a point opposite the upper falls. This rock- 
house is of considerable extent. It afforded a safe retreat 
for the party and one almost inaccessible to enemies if 
properly defended by even a few persons. It afforded a 
cool and pleasant habitation in summer. 

The manner of life of the party was not unlike the daily 
life in an Indian village. Mrs. Wiley was compelled to 
]ierform all the drudgery- of the camp. The warriors 
lounged about the caves and slept when not hunting or 
scouting. Hunting was not extensively engaged in, sum- 
mer peltries being of poor quality. Only enough game 
was killed to furnish food for the party. Usually turkeys, 
deer, and buffalo were easily found near the cam]), though 
the Indians often went to the great lick on Big Mudlick 
Creek to kill buffalo, especially when visited l)y other 
bands. They sometimes hunted on what is now known 
as Barnett's Creek, also on Big Paint Creek between that 
stream and Big Mudlick Creek. They sometimes recinircd 



58 HARMAN'S STATION 

Mrs. Wiley to follow them and bring in the game they 
killed. She was shown how to care for the skins of the 
animals killed. She gathered the wood for the camp fires. 
As the Indians had no axe she was obliged to gather the 
dry branches which had fallen from the trees, and before 
the smnmer was over these were exhausted near the camp. 
,The French and the Indians had discovered lead in that 
vicinity, and Mrs. Wiley was made to carry the ore from 
the lead mines to the east edge of the plateau and there 
smelt it out to be used for bullets for the guns. To do this 
she had to collect a great quantity of wood and build a hot 
fire which had to be maintained for some hours. When 
the lead was melted from the ore it was conducted through 
small trenches to the bottom of a depression which Mrs. 
Wiley had made for the purpose and which was to be seen 
as late as 1880. It was just above the entrance to the 
rockhouse. She was also made to plant some corn in the 
old Indian field which had been the site of the old Indian 
town. 

The Indians remained at the camp on some mysterious 
mission, as Mrs. Wiley judged. They were often visited 
by other bands, some of which contained as many as twen- 
ty Indians. Sometimes these visiting bands remained 
several days ; at other times they departed in a few hours. 
Mrs. Wiley learned the Shawnee language, also something 
of other Indian tongues. She made many efforts to hear 
wliat the visiting Indians said to her captors, but was 
never able to get any information of benefit to her. The 
Shawnee chief told Mrs. Wiley he would take her to the 
Indian towns beyond the Ohio when Indian summer came 
on, at which time he expected a large force of Indians to 
arrive and relieve him. Mrs. Wiley sought an opportunity 
to escape after this conversation with the old Shawnee, 
but none presented itself that she could believe promised 
siK'coss. She was entirely ignorant of the general physi- 
cal iVatnres of the country in which she was held, although 




torture of tlie ("aptivo 



HARMAN'S STATION 59 

she believed that she was nearer the Virginia settlements 
than when she was on the Ohio River. She had feigned 
sleep in the hope that her captors would say something 
about the settlements of white people that she might hear, 
but they never did so. There had been times when she 
was out of sight of her captors and might have escaped, 
but never having been able to bring herself to believe the 
effort would prove successful, she had waited for a more 
favorable opportunity. As the time approached when she 
was to be taken to the Indian towns she became more 
determined upon escape, or upon death in the effort. Her 
resolution in this matter was overturned by an event whol- 
ly unexpected. 

One day about the end of October the Indians were 
aroused from their indolent loungings by the quavering 
war-whoop cried by some party about the mouth of Big 
Mudlick Creek. The Shawnee chief answered the war- 
QYj, and it was repeated. The Shawnee chief informed 
his party that the Cherokee chief had been on tlie war- 
path, had lost some of his warriors, and was now coming 
into camp with a captive white man. War-whoops were 
exchanged, and g-uns were fired by both parties. The 
Shawnee chief led his party to the plateau to receive the 
Cherokee chief and his warriors, who soon arrived. The 
Cherokee chief was followed by a mongrel band of some 
twenty Indians, and he brought with him a white man as 
prisoner. Mrs. Wiley supposed this prisoner to be about 
twenty years old, though she was not permitted to come 
near enough to him to have any conversation with him. 
This captive was terribly beaten when he arrived on tlio 
plateau. 

Mrs. Wiley was sent back to the rockhouse when the 
Cherokee chief had talked with the Shawnee chief. The 
Cherokee gave her a kettle and told her to cook him some 
meat as soon as she could. She built up a fire in the rock- 
house and slung the kettle, which she filled with bear meat 



60 HARMAN'S STATION 

and venison. She could hear the mad howling, whooping, 
and screeching of the warriors on the lieight above her, 
also the discharge of guns and the thumping and stamping 
of feet in an Indian dance. Shortly after dark the whole 
band came down from the plateau, and the captive was not 
with them. It did not take her long to gather from the 
convei-sation of the Indians that the prisoner had been 
tortured at the stake. The Cherokee chief was in a great 
rage, sullen and savage. He did not remain long in the 
camp but returned to the heights above with his hands full 
of meat from the kettle. Mrs. Wiley was rudely treated 
by the Indians recently arrived, and the Shawnee chief 
and his followei's were excited and blood-thirsty. The 
cam)) was overflowing with whooping Indians threatening 
to kill her, and for the first time the Shawnee chief did not 
stand her friend. She appealed to him but he did nothing 
to quiet the howling mob, and he left the camp to join the 
Cherokee. Finally the Indians left the camp and went 
above, yelling along the gorge above the falls. Mrs. 
Wiley was more at ease when she heard them whooping 
on the ])lateau, but what the night would bring forth she 
could not tell.'"'^ 

An hour or two after dark a band of Indians, all of the 
late arrivals, came down from the assembly. They tied 

'•'- Mr. Wiley wsis ])()sitive of the death of this white man. Mrs. 
Wiley (lid not see him tortured, nor did she see his dead body. She said 
the captive was tortured on the plateau overlooking Big Mudlick Creek. 
The fire about which the Indians were gathered when she was taken to the 
plateau was nearer the falls of Little Mudlick. Mr. Wiley and I searched 
the plateau more than once for evidences of fire, and at a point near where 
Mrs. Wiley believed the captive was burned we found charcoal, but of course 
tliert' was no way in which it could be connected with the death of the 
captive. In many versions of the story of Mrs. Wiley there was no men- 
tion (»f the death of this prisoner. As his name was never known and 
nothing was known about him there was little to keep the interest in his 
death in the minds of the peo]de. The older generation, though, had a dis- 
tinct recollection uf the burning of this young man. He came to Mrs. 
Wiley ill liiT striiiiyc liicjun and pointed out the settlements of the white 
mcu. 




Mrs. Wilcv tied to the strike to l)f tortui't-d hv the lii»li;ins 



HARMAN'S STATION 61 

Mrs. Wiley's hands with a stri]) of raw hide, hy one end 
of which she was led to the heig-lit where the Indians were 
assembled aboitt a big* fire. The dancing ceased when she 
arrived. The Cherokee chief a])peared as the connnander 
of the Indians and told her that she was to be burned. 
She appealed to the Shawnee chief, but he made no definite 
answer. There was no sympathy for her in the mad 
band. She remembered the cruelties and many outrages 
she had suffered at the hands of the Indians, and as no 
prospect of escape came to her or seemed likely to come 
in the future even should she live, she was the more easily 
reconciled to death. In after years she affinned that con- 
cern for her life and all earthly things departed from her, 
leaving her calm and collected. In this frame of mind 
she was bound to the tree, a small oak from which all the 
lower branches had been cut. Her demeanor seemed to 
please the Cherokee chief. Because of her courage or 
from some other cause which was never known to her, pro- 
ceedings in the execution were suspended. The Indians 
retired for council and talked for a long time, as Mrs. 
Wiley believed. Wlien they returned the Cherokee chief 
informed Mrs. Wiley that he had bought her from the 
Shawnee and that he would take her to his town on the 
Little Tennessee where she could teach his wives (he spoke 
as though he had quite a number of them) to write and to 
weave cloth like her dress. He unbound her and led her 
back to the camp in the rockhouse, followed by the Shaw- 
nee chief. There the fire was lighted anew. The Chero- 
kee chief produced a buckskin bag from which he counted 
down to the Shawnee five hundred little silver brooches 
about as large as the silver dime of to-day, the ])rice he 
had agreed to pay for Mrs. Wiley. They were received 
by the Shawnee as though he had a supreme contemi)t for 
money, and swept by him from the buckskin upon which 
they had been counted to him into a bag similar to that 



62 HARMAN'S STATION 

from which they had been taken. This bag he placed in 
his pack and lay down by the fire to sleep. 

The Cherokee chief bound Mrs. Wiley with raw thongs 
cut from a buffalo hide, which he drew very tight, causing 
her great pain. He returned to the plateau and was gone 
a long time. He came back with several of his band some 
time in the night, and all slept in the rockhouse. 



CHAPTER VIII 

It was late in the day when John Borders returned home 
from the search for his sheep, and a thick and foggy 
darkness was settling over the valley of Walker's Creek. 
When he found that Mrs. Wiley had not yet arrived at 
his house he feared that harm had come to lier and her 
family, and her sister, Mrs. Borders, was distressed and 
anxious. Borders sought a neighbor who lived near hira 
and together they went to Wiley's house, which they found 
partly burned. After some time spent in a cautious ex- 
amination of the place they ventured to enter the house, 
where they found the bodies of the slain children. The 
animals about the place were excited and Borders he- 
lieved the Indians were yet lying in wait to do further 
murder. Not finding Mrs. Wiley and the young child 
they were uncertain of their fate, but they supposed none 
of the family had escaped death. No light was kindled 
by Borders and his companion, and after a short time 
spent in making the examination by which they learned 
the facts set out above they left the house and alanned 
the settlers. 

The Indians had been seen by no one, and the uncer- 
tainty in the minds of the people as to their number and 
further purpose spread terror in the settlement. No 
attempt could be made to follow the Indians during the 
night. Those most capable of determining just what to 
do in this extremity were out of the settlement and it was 
not known when they would return. On the following 
morning a number of the settlers gathered at Wiley's 
cabin and looked the premises over carefully, but the 
trail of the savages was not discovered. From some cause 



64 HARMAN'S STATION 

it was supposed that the Indians had gone down the New 
River. Thomas Wiley and a dozen settlers followed the 
Indian road down that stream hoping to come up with the 
Indians, but no tidings of Mrs. Wiley came from that 
pursuit. 

In the afternoon of the day after the attack upon Wiley's 
liouse, Matthias Harman and the hunters returned to the 
settlement. The swollen streams and the heavy loads 
carried by their horses had delayed them twenty-four 
hours ; but for these impediments they would have arrived 
in time to have prevented the murders committed by the 
Indians. The confidence of the hunters that they would 
arrive in the settlement before the Indians, had caused 
them to neglect to send a runner to warn the settlers of 
their danger. 

Immediately upon his return Matthias Harman went to 
the house of Wiley where he found many of the settlers. 
He made a minute examination of the country around 
the house. In the hills north of the house he found evi- 
dences that the Indians had passed that way. He followed 
this discovery some miles, and upon his return to the 
cabin he assured the settlers that Mrs. Wiley was alive 
and a prisoner, that she was carrying her child which 
had been spared, and that the Indians would follow the 
Tug Uiver war-trail and try to cross the Ohio to their 
towns. It was his opinion that the Cherokee chief was 
the leader of the band, the number of which he had deter- 
mineil from the trail. He was confident that he could over- 
take the Indians and recover the prisoners. His purpose 
to do tliis was determined upon at once. 

Harman was a bold and active man. He believed this 
raid was made more by accident than design and that it 
indicated no uprising of the Indians nor any purj^ose to 
harass the settlements. It was not regarded as of suffi- 
cient im])ortance to delay the settlement to be made at the 
mouth of John's Creek. He assembled those interested 



5" 

orq 







HARMAN'S STATION 65 

in that enterprise and gave them instructions as to what 
they should carry with them, when to set out, wliat to do in 
case they should arrive before he could return there from 
pursuit of the Indians, and the most favorable route for 
them to take on the journey. There were about twenty- 
five men in this colony, but the exact number is not known, 
and their names are lost to us. We know that among 
them were Matthias Ifarnian, Absalom Lusk, Henry 
Skaggs, James Skaggs liis brother, Robert TIawes, Daniel 
Harman, Adam Harman, and Henry Harman. It is be- 
lieved that a man named Horn, also one named Leek, were 
with the colonists. Harman selected ten of the most 
experienced Indian fighters to go with him in ])ursuit of 
the ])arty having Mrs. Wiley and her child in cai>tivity. 
Thomas Wiley was not a member of the colony and did not 
go out with tliem.^" 

Matthias Harman and his company of hunters sot out 
early in the day in juirsuit of the Indians. So confident 
that he was right did Harman feel that he did not at first 
attem]it to follow the trail made by the savages, but went 
directly to the head waters of the Bluestone River and 
crossed the Great Flat Top Mountain. He found the trail 
of the Indians in the hills about the head of the Tug River ; 
it followed the old Indian wai^iath as Harman had con- 
jectured. This ancient way was so well defined that it 
required no effort to discover and follow it, which made 
their pursuit rapid and certain. Each camp of the In- 
dians was discovered, and it was i)lain that the Indians 
were being gained upon every day. 

If the Indians had not left the old war-path and turned 
down the small streams to Tug River they would have 
been overhauled by Harman and his party in a few hours. 

16 Mr. Wiley had not returnod from tlio i)ursiiit made down the New 
River, so his son always said. He also said that his father was unnerved by 
the destruction of his family, and that he was at the time unfit for the war- 
path. 



66 BARMAN'S STATION 

It was difficult traveling on horseback along the small 
streams, for they were frequently choked with thickets. 
This caused delay when rapid movement was so necessary. 
Hai-man saw that the Indians were not far in advance and 
were aware of the presence of the party in pursuit. Just 
before night they found the body of Mrs. Wiley's child, 
which they buried in a shallow grave hastily dug with 
tomahawks and scalping knives. A few minutes after the 
Indians had plunged into the water and crossed Tug River 
Harman and his men stood upon the spot they had left. 
It was impossible to get the horses across the river in its 
flooded condition on such a night. The party camped on 
the bank of the river and spent the night in building rafts 
upon which to carry over the baggage in the morning. 

HaiTnan effected a safe crossing early the following 
day. It was past noon when he again found the Indian 
trail, which wound through a country so rough and hilly 
that it was well nigh impossible to follow it with horses. 
When he arrived at the point where the Indians had 
crossed the Louisa River it was the unanimous opinion 
of all the hunters that it was useless to follow the trail 
further. They all believed that it would be impossible 
to come up with the Indians. Mrs. Wiley was relieved of 
the burden of her child, and the Indians being apprised 
of the pursuit would hold their course to the rough, bush- 
grown, stony ridges where horses could scarcely go. So, 
with regret, the pursuit was abandoned at the Louisa 
River. 

From the point where the Indian trail was abandoned 
Harman and his company ascended the Louisa River to 
the mouth of John's Creek and went into camp in the old 
iiuiiting lodge built there by Harman more than thirty 
years before. There the river runs against the bluff on 
its west side, leaving a broad bottom on the east side of 
the river below the mouth of John's Creek. It was an 
ideal i>hice for a pioneer settlement. The great war-path 



HARMAN'S STATION 67 

up the river ran on the west side of the stream at that 
point. There the stream is deep. John's Creek is a 
stream of considerable size, having its sources in the moun- 
tain ranges about the head waters of the Tug and Louisa 
rivers. Should the larger streams be beset with Indians 
the valley of the smaller one would afford a safe way to 
the settlements in Virginia. 

The bottom in which it was designed to build the fort of 
the settlement was then covered with trees ranging in size 
from the shrub to the giant sycamore with its girth of 
forty feet. These trees were of several varieties -birch, 
beech, maple, linn, oak, poplar, and others. It was cov- 
ered with a thick growth of cane which furnished winter 
pastures for buffalo, elk, and deer, and which was an indi- 
cation of deep and lasting fertility. 

The colonists expected directly from Virginia did not 
arrive for some days after the coming of Harman and his 
company. Their horses were heavily packed, and their 
progress through forests and over streams was necessar- 
ily slow. High water hindered much. 

The site selected for the fort was almost half a mile 
below the mouth of John's Creek and about one hundred 
yards back from the east bank of the Louisa River. The 
fort was built on the plan common to the forts in frontier 
settlements. It was about twenty feet square and two 
stories in height. The upper story projected beyond the 
walls of the lower story about two feet on eveiy side, and 
this extra space was floored with lieavy timbers in which 
loop-holes were cut through which to fire down upon 
besieging Indians should they ever come to such close 
quarters. The walls of both stories were provided with 
openings through which to fire upon a foe. Tlie door or 
gate was made of split oak timbers six inches in thickness. 
It was hung upon strong wooden hinges made by the 
hunters, opened inward, and was secured by an immense 
beam of oak. The roof sloped up from eaoli of the four 



68 HARMAN'S STATION 

sides of the fort to a point in the center, and was made of 
tliick slabs of white oak timber ' ' pinned " to the log " ribs ' ' 
or rafters with long wooden pins or pegs driven into holes 
bored with an auger. A small stream flowed from the 
hills back of the bottom and passed close by the fort, and 
upon it the settlers relied for water. The timber about 
the fort was cut off close to the ground and burned back 
the full space of rifle range. This was done to deprive 
the Indians of cover should they ever besiege the fort. 

This rude and strong ])uilding thus erected by the rough 
backwoodsmen of the A^irginia frontier, all of whom were 
as brave and hardy as any who ever founded a frontier 
post, was the famous blockhouse. The settlement com- 
menced by its erection was called 

haeman's station 

It was the first settlement made in Eastern Kentucky. 
There was at that time no settlement in either of the 
present counties of Pike, Floyd, Lawrence, Boyd, Greenup, 
Carter, Elliott, Morgan, Wolfe, Magoffin, Breathitt, Knott, 
Letcher, or Martin. There were no settlements on the 
Tug River, and none in any of the present counties of 
West Virginia touching that stream. 

This fort was built by Matthias Harman and back- 
woodsmen whom he had induced to cast their lots with 
liini in the wilderness. 

The fort was built in the winter of 1787-88.^' 

17 In the preface it was announced that the dates fixed by Mr. Wiley 
would be followed. This is the date fixed by him. E have no doubt 
as to its aeoiiracy. F refer again to the inap to be found in Imlay 's Amer- 
ican Topnfini])lni. The author says: " In order to communicate a distinct 
idea of the present complexion of the State of Kentucky, I have drawn a 
map from the best authorities, from which you will discern that Kentucky 
is nlron<ly divi<led into nine counties; and villages are springing up in every 
I«irt within its limts, while roads have been opened to shorten the distance 
to Virpinin." llannan's Station is correctly located on the said map. 
The «itc i»f Vancouver's attempted settlement is marked " Vancouvers. " 
Hclntive u, ttint attemy.t T set out an afTidavit made bv .John Planks in 18:^8. 



IIAR.MAXS ►STATION 69 

wheu Hanks was in his seventy-fifth year. It was first i-ublislunl by Dr 
Ely in his work on the Big Sandy Valley : 

" 1 was employed by Charles Vancouver in the month of February, 1789. 
along with several other men, to go to the forks of Big Sandy River, for 
the purijose of settling, clearing and improving the Vancouver tract, situ 
ated on the point formed by the junction of the Tug and Levisa Forks, and 
near where the town of Louisa now stands. In March, 1789, shortly after 
Vancouver and his men settled on said point, the Indians stole all their 
horses but one, which they killed. We all, about ten in number, except 
three or four of Vancouver's men, remained there during that year, and 
left the next March, except three or four men left to hold possession. Hut 
they were driven off in April, 1790, by the Indians. Vancouver went East 
in May, 1789, for a stock of goods, and returned in the fall of the same year. 
We had to go to the mouth of the Kanawha River, a distance of eighty- 
seven miles, for corn, and no one was settled near us; probably the nearest 
was a fort about thirty or forty miles away, and this was built may be 
early in 1790. The fort we built consisted of three cabins and some pens 
made of logs, like corn cribs, and reaching from one cabin to the other. 

' ' We raised some vegetables and deadened several acres of ground, 
say about eighteen, on the point, but the horses being stolen, we were unabh- 
to raise a crop. (Signed) John H.\nks." 

The nearest fort, " about thirty or forty miles away," which was 
" built may be early in 1790." was the fort erected in rebuilding the 
blockhouse put up by Matthias Harman and his associates in the winter 
of 1787-88. and which had been destroyed by the Indians, who burned it. 
The settlers who had been obliged to return to Virginia at the time of its 
destruction, returned with reinforcements in the winter of 1789-90 and 
built another fort in the Blockhouse Bottom. Although often attacked, they 
never again abandoned the settlement. 



CHAPTER IX 

After passing through the horrors of such an ordeal as 
that to which she had been subjected Mrs. Wiley found it 
impossible to sleep. She had nerved herself to face death 
with resignation, and her nerves were unstrung with the 
relaxation following her unexpected deliverance from the 
stake. And she was troubled by the change of masters. 
She feared the Cherokee. He was in every way different 
from the Shawnee chief. He was quick and energetic of 
action, cruel, savage, and treacherous by nature, always 
restless and anxious to be moving. While she believed 
that she owed her life to his interference in her behalf she 
was not sure the future would prove that she would have 
much to be thankful for in that matter. Her chance of 
escape seemed cut off and that troubled her ; she regretted 
that slie had not made the effort to escape months before. 
While pondering over these things she fell into a broken 
and troubled sleep. She found this a most strange sleep 
for she seemed more awake than ever. She was never 
sure she was asleep at all, but she always insisted that she 
saw this vision or had this remarkable dream: The 
young man so lately tortured by the Indians came to her 
bearing in his hand a lamp made from the bleached skull 
of a sheep, the brain cavity of which was filled with buffalo 
Uillow in wliich was a wick that was burning brightly. 
The young man did not speak, but by signs indicated that 
she must follow him. Then her bonds fell away. The 
young man threaded the deep defiles of the forest with the 
flame of his lamp fluttering in the wind. He did not look 
hack to sec if she wore following him. Arriving at a steep 
moiiiitaiii oi" great height he rapidly ascended it. Wlien 



HARMAN'S STATION 71 

he reached the top he blew strongly upon his lamp-flauio 
which immediately leaped to a height sufficient to reveal 
the whole country below. She looked where he pointed 
across a river. There stood a fort erected by white men. 
As she was anxiously appealing to him for infonnation 
as to who dwelt there the light paled, flickered a moment, 
then was gone. She was left alone in the darkness, and 
was immediately roused from her slumber. This dream 
or manifestation or phenomena, by whatever name, was 
repeated twice, the last time being just as the Indians 
began to stir in the camp.^® 

Mrs. Wiley was unbound by the Cherokee, and informed 
by him that it was his purpose to set out on the journey to 
his town in a day or two, but that he was going that morn- 
ing to the great buffalo lick on Big Mudlick Creek to kill 
game. It was not long until the whole band of Indians 
left the camp. Mrs. Wiley was again bound and left in 
the camp in the rockhouse. She soon fell into a deep 
sleep from which she was wakened by the roaring of a 
heavy storm of wind and rain. The instant that she awoke 
the peculiar dream came to her mind with gi-eat force. It 
seemed to be a call to her to make an effort to escape ; at 
least, she so regarded it, and she decided to act upon it. 
She saw the wind was blowing the rain into one comer of 
the rockhouse. She rolled herself over and over until 
she lay in this rain blown in by the wind. It was but a 
short time until the raw-hide thongs with which she was 

18 To those familiar with psychology and psychical ijheuomcna re- 
markable dreams or manifestatious to one under stress of nervous ex- 
citement or great strain or disturbance of the mental faculties are not 
strange; they are not impossible, improbable, nor even unusual. Volumes 
could be filled with authentic instances of such dreams or manifestations. 
Mrs. Wiley always believed she was assisted by this dream to make her 
escape. She believed after this dream that there were white people in 
the country about her. The route by which the settlement could be 
reached was unknown to her and had not been seen in her dream. The 
young man led her straight through the woods to a high mountain which 
does not in fact exist. But she saw it in her dream, and from the top of 
it she saw the fort in a settlement of her own people. 



72 HARMAN'S STATlOxN 

bound were soaked and became slippery and easily re- 
moved. AVlien free she bound her dog to a large stone to 
prevent his following her, seized a tomahawk and a scalp- 
ing knife, and descended quickly to the bed of Little Mud- 
lick Creek. She waded that stream to its junction with the 
larger stream, which she waded to Big Paint Creek. There 
she remembered that she had no well-defined plan of ac- 
tion, but after a little time spent in reflection she remem- 
bered that she had seen a river in her dream, and concluded 
that she might reach this river by wading continuously 
down stream. She acted upon that conclusion. She 
found it difficult to wade in Big Paint Creek. It is a 
deep, swift stream, and the heavy rain quickly raised the 
small streams flowing into it, and they carried in muddy 
water, which soon made it impossible for her to determine 
the depth. She was often carried oiT her footing, and 
more than once was in danger of drowning. 

Big Paint Creek makes a big bend which she was com- 
pelled to follow around, and it was growing dusk when she 
was at the mouth of the Rockhouse branch. At the mouth 
of Jennie's Creek she crossed Paint Creek. She waded 
up Jennie's Creek, which the heavy rain had put out of its 
banks. Wind and i-ain continued all night. When she 
reached the forks of Jennie's Creek she was almost ex- 
hausted, and for a time there she was much puzzled as to 
which hiimdi of the stream she should follow. Her choice 
of branches was right; she turned to the left and followed 
the Lick Fork. In half a mile she was again compelled 
to choose between two branches of the stream, for there 
the M iddle Fork falls into the Lick Fork. She again turn- 
ed to the h'ft, and again her choice was right. She followed 
the l>ick Foi-k to the mouth of a small branch coming in 
I'loin the east. Here she left the larger stream and fol- 
lowed the little one to its head, where she crossed through 
a gaj) to tlu; stream now known as the Bear Branch, which 
iilie descended to its junction with Little Paint Creek. 



II ARM AN "S STATION 73 

Continuing down the latter stream she stood upon the 
bank of the Louisa Kiver as the dull dawn of a cloudy 
morning appeared in the east. It is unnecessaiy to dwell 
here upon the exhausted condition of Mrs. Wiley. She 
had waded against swift currents of ovei'flowed streams 
for more than twelve hours, and had been wading for as 
much as eighteen hours. She dragged lierself u]) the bank 
of the river and soon came O]:)posite the block) louse. She 
saw women and children there, but no man was in sight. 
She called out to make her presence known and for assist- 
ance to cross the river. So unexyiected a cry alanned the 
people at the fort, and they went in hurriedly and closed 
the gate.'*' 

Here was a wholly unlooked-for discouragement. Mrs. 
Wiley was impatient and anxious, fully ex])ecting to be 
followed by the savages. Seeing now the blockhouse, she 
reasoned that the Indians knew of its existence and would 
seek her in that direction. She was fearful that they 
might appear at any minute. She continued to call to the 
people in the fort, calling out her name and saying that 

1'' Mrs. Wiley always insisted that she had no knowledge of the 
existence of the blockhouse when she left the rockhouse at the falls of 
Little Mudlick Creek. She had seen a fort beyond a river in her dream 
the night before her escape, and she supposed that by descending the 
creeks she would reach the fiver. Her contention is upheld by the facts 
developeil in the flight. It was almost dark when she was at the mouth 
of the Rockhouse branch, and at the mouth of .Jennie's Creek it was dark 
and was raining very hard. She said something told her she must cross 
to Jennie's Creek and follow it. To do this was to abandon her original 
plan of following down stream until she found the river. At the mouth 
of Jennie's Creek she was not two miles from the Indian camj). If she 
had known anything of the route u]) Jennie's Creek she could have reached 
the mouth of the creek in less than an hour by following the route of the 
present highway between the two points, and the amount of rain falling 
would have enabled her to wade small streams all the way and conceal 
her trail. Her ignorance of the physical features of the surrounding 
country saved her; for it was afterward discovered that when the Indians 
found that she had escaped they supposed that she had goiu* tlirectly to 
the mouth of Jennie's Creek, and they followed tiiat route in their first 
si-arcli lor lier. Wliiie it was yet light they were scduring the banks of 
I'aint Creek ami those of the lower courses of .leiinie's Creek seeking some 



74 HARMAN'S STATION 

she had escaped from the Indians, whom she expected to 
follow her. After what appeared to her to be a long time 
an old man came out of the fort. She recognized him at 
once as Henry Skaggs, an old-time friend of her father. 
It did not require much time for her to convince him that 
she was Jennie Wiley, and that she stood in great danger 
of being recaptured by the Indians. Skaggs knew the 
Cherokee chief well. He saw that no time was to be lost 
in getting her across the river. He told Mrs. Wiley that 
the men of the fort, except himself, had gone away early 
in the morning with the canoes. He said they would not 
return for some time, and that he would be compelled to 
construct a raft upon which to bring her over. He advised 
her to endeavor to swim across should the Indians appear, 
as it was his opinion that she would suffer death if recap- 
tured. 

A dead mulberry tree stood on the bank of the river and 
Skaggs and the women went vigorously to work to fell it. 
It was tall and had but few branches. When it fell it very 
fortunately broke into three pieces of about equal length. 
These logs were hastily rolled into the river and bound to- 

sign of her, and finding none they abandoned the idea that she had set 
out for the blockhouse over that route. From the footprints of the In- 
dians discovered by the settlers and other signs left by the Indians, they 
sui)i)08Pd that the savages had not been gone an hour when Mrs. Wiley 
reached the mouth of Jennie's Creek. 

Jennie's Creek was given its name in her honor and because she made 
her escape in wading several miles against its rapid current. Mrs. Wiley 
said that it was perfectly plain to her that she must take the left-hand 
branch, as she was traveling, at the forks of Jennie's Creek. And the 
Hame thing occurred at the mouth of the Middle Fork. And it wonld seem 
a miracle that any one could find the mouth of the small branch where 
Hho turned out of the Lick Fork. It must be remembered that it was pitch 
d;irk, and that the whole country was covered with a heavy forest, be- 
neath the boughs of which it would be dark on even a starlight night. 
Thf darkness, dense as it was, had torrents of rain to augment it. The 
stnams were running bank full, and for many miles she pushed against 
the current. Considered from any point, the achievements of Mrs. Wiley 
that night were most remarkable. I doubt if it is equaled in all the annals 
of the Border. Her adventures have in them all the requisites for a ro- 
mance of bordiT life, and the subject is worthy the ablest pen. 




Mrs. Wiley and lli'nry Skaggs crossing the Hiv<'r on ;i llaU 



HARMAN'S STATION 75 

gether with long grapevines pulled down from the forest 
trees where they grew wild. Placing two rifles upon the 
raft Skaggs pushed out into the river which was full to 
overflow, and which was caiTying much drift. After being 
carried far down the stream Skaggs made a landing. Mrs. 
Wiley stepped upon the rude raft and it was again pushed 
into the stream. When in mid-stream the raft was caught 
by drift and nearly pulled to pieces but by hard work both 
raft and drift were brought to some overhanging trees 
standing on the east bank. The branches of these trees 
were seized and the raft brought to shore about half a 
mile below the blockhouse. 

When Mrs. Wiley and Skaggs had gone up the river to 
the fort and were about to enter the gate Indian yells 
broke from the thickets over the Louisa. A moment later 
a large band of Indians came into view, among them the 
Cherokee chief ; and with them was Mrs, Wiley 's dog. The 
Cherokee chief saw Mrs. Wiley at the entrance to the fort. 
He called out to her to know why she had left him after he 
had saved her life and paid his silver for her. lie insisted 
that she had not treated him as she should have done, and 
closed his appeal with the words, *' honor, Jennie, honor!" 
She did not reply to him. Skaggs fired his rifle in the 
direction of the savages, though the distance was too great 
for the range of small arms. At the discharge of the rifle 
the Cherokee turned about, and with a defiant gesture-" 
uttered a fearful whoop, in which he was joined by his 
warriors. Seeing that Mrs. Wiley had escaped and that lie 
could not recapture her, the Cherokee chief disappeared 
in the woods, followed by his savage companions and Afrs. 
Wiley's dog. 

The report of the gun discharged by Henr>' Skaggs 
brought the men back to the blockhouse. Later in the day, 
after some preparation, the men crossed the river and 
followed the trail of the Indians almost to Little Mudliok 



20 Patted his buttocks 



76 HARxMAN'S STATION 

Creek. From Mrs. Wiley's account of the number of In- 
dians at the camp the hunters believed they had a force too 
small to attack them, so they returned after having gone 
to the mouth of Jennie's Creek. It was not improbable 
that the Indians would attack the fort soon, and upon the 
return of tlie hunters things were put in a posture of de- 
fense. No attack was made upon the blockhouse, but the 
Indians prowled about it for several days, and they were 
in tlie vicinity for some weeks. 

Airs. Wiley found friends in the blockhouse. Most of 
the settlers were well known to her in Virginia. She was 
anxious to return to her husband and relatives. When 
the winter was well commenced a party commanded by 
Matthias Ilarman took her to her Virginia settlements and 
restored her to her husband and relatives. On the way the 
party was attacked several times, but succeeded in beating 
off tlie savages.-^ It was unusual to find Indians in the 
woods in the winter, and from this circumstance it was 
feared that they would prove exceedingly troublesome to 
the settlers at the blockhouse the next summer. 

Mrs. Wiley was in captivity about eleven months. Af- 
ter her return she and her husband lived in Virginia about 
twelve years; they then moved to Kentucky, settling on 
the Big Sandy River just above the mouth of Tom's Creek, 
in what is now Johnson County, and some fifteen miles 
from the blockhouse and ten or twelve miles from the old 
Indian town at the mouth of Little Mudlick Creek. The 
Presbyterians had no church organization in that part of 
Kentucky, and she and hei- husband were members of the 
i^>;i I »t i st ( '1 1 u rcli. Thomas Wiley died where he first settled 
ill Kentucky about the year 1810, and Mrs. Wiley re- 
mained a widow twenty-one years, dying of paralysis in 

-' Till' attiicks madp l)v the Indians upon the party which escorted Mrs. 
Wiley back to Virginia .iiid the devices practiced to evade the savages would 
in thoiMHelves make an interesting story. It often seemed as though they 
were lost, and Mrs. Wiley had to bear a rifle aiui fight with the others, \vhich 
she did efTecfively and with a good will. 



TIARMAX'S STATION 77 

the year 1831. They left a hirge family and their deseend- 
ants live now in the Big Sandy Valley and are numerous 
and respectable. 

The Indians attacked the l)lockhouse several times dur- 
ing the summer of 1788. The settlers surrounded it with 
a stockade. The Indians maintained something of a 
siege which lasted for about three weeks. This was in 
September. On account of their presence all the time no 
crops could be raised that smnmer. Several of them were 
killed by the settlers. Some of the settlers became dis- 
couraged, and as soon as cold weather enabled them to do 
so they returned to the Virginia settlements. Thus weak- 
ened it was not believed that the fort could be defended 
another year. The settlers all returned to Virginia during 
the winter of 1788-89. The Indians immediately destroy- 
ed the blockhouse. It was burned, together with some 
cabins which the settlers had erected in the vicinity. 

In the winter of 1789-90 some of these settlers returned 
to the blockhouse site. They were accompanied by other 
settlers, a majority of whom were from Lee and Scott 
counties, Virginia. They erected a second blockhouse 
where the first one had stood, but it was not so substan- 
tially built as was the first one. In the sunmier of 1791 
many new settlers came. The settlement was troul)led 
much by the Indians for several years, but it was never 
again broken up. It is believed that iMatthias Harman 
did not again settle ]iermanently in the Blockhouse Bot- 
tom, though he was there for some years. He died in 
Tazewell County, Virginia. Daniel Harman became a 
permanent settler in the vicinity of the first settlement, 
and his descendants in the Big Sandy Valley are many. 
They are industrious, and are good citizens. Henry Skaggs 
and James Skaggs both returned to Kentucky. They 
lived for some years in the vicinity of the Blockhouse Bot- 
tom, but when times were settled they went to live on the 
head waters of Big Blaine Creek. Their (h'scendants live 



78 HARMAN'S STATION 

now on Big Blaine Creek, the Little Sandy River, and the 
Licking River. The Leeks came with the second settle- 
ment, and their descendants are yet to be found on the 
Louisa River. The same can be said of the Horns. An 
account of the families which came with the settlers in the 
second colony will be furnished at some time in the future. 



CHAPTER X 



OTHER ACCOUNTS 



I have believed it well to set out in an additional chapter 
other accounts of the captivity of Mrs. Wiley. It is not 
necessary to make any comment on them, for when they 
are read in connection with my account as written from 
the dictation of Adam P. Wiley the causes for any differ- 
ences of statement will readily appear. 

The adventures of Mrs. Wiley are related in every 
household in the Big Sandy Valley. I was perfectly famil- 
iar with them long before I ever saw Mr. Wiley. They are 
related now in a variety of forms, and like all traditionary 
accounts of an important event after the lapse of more 
than a century they differ somewhat as to details. The 
following account furnished me by my friend, James Hay- 
den Van Hoose, of Fayetteville, Arkansas, is a fair state- 
ment of the tradition as it is briefly related in these days. 
Writing me under date of August 4, 1895, he says : 

I have heard my grandmother tell the story as she re- 
ceived it from old Jennie Wiley nearly ninety years ago. 
Jennie Wiley was one of the early settlers in Western 
Virginia, and on a day in the fall of the year while all the 
men folks of the settlement were off on a scout, a band of 
Indians came in and murdered and plundered the ]ieople 
left at home. All her children were killed excei)t her 
youngest, then about 15 months old, which they allowed 
her to carry with her into captivity. They took her down 
into Kentucky and kept her with them until in the early 
part of the next spring. Another babe was l)orn which 
they allowed her to nurse for a few weeks, but becoming 
uneasy about some news brought in by their scouts, they 
killed'both of her babes one night and dried tlioir little 
scalps by the fire before her eyes. She saw that trouble 
was brewing and resolved to make an effort to escape. 



80 IIARMAN'S STATION 

After they were asleep slie quietly stole away from the 
cam}), traveling- in the direction she thought would lead to 
the white settlements. All night she traveled, accompan- 
ied by her faithful little dog who had followed her from 
her home, and stayed by her all the time in captivity. 

She reached the mouth of this little creek which empties 
into Paint Creek, and she followed it to its head. During 
the day a little snow fell, and for fear they would track her 
in the snow she waded in the water, but her little dog would 
run along the bank. To keep them from finding his tracks 
in the snow, she called him to her in the water, and held 
him under until he was drowned. She said she could not 
keep back the tears while drowning him as she thought of 
how faitfhul he had been to her. She said she passed 
through the low gap now known as " Hager's Gap," where 
my father afterward built his house, in which I was born 
()G years ago and a ])ortion of which yet stands. Travel- 
ing up a little branch, once known as the " Stillhouse 
Branch," to its head, she reached the " Limestone Cliff," 
at the mouth of the " Limestone Branch," late at night. 
She rested under the clifT of rocks and slept a few hours 
until daylight, when she renewed her tramp along the 
river bank, until she reached a point directly opposite the 
blockhouse, or rude fort. She called loudly as she could 
for some one to come over after her. The river was very 
high, and some of the women came down to the bank. She 
called to them to send some one over after her, as she 
knew the Indians were after her ; but they answered her 
by saying there was no canoe about the fort, and that the 
men were all gone after Indians on a scout, and only one 
old man left with the women and little children, and he 
was 80 years old, and feeble. She told them to get some 
dry logs and ])in them together and make a raft, but they 
told her llici-e was not any auger about the place. Then 
siie said tie the logs together with ropes. But there was 
no ro])e. 'i'hen she said " get a grape vine " and tie the 
logs together with that. 

The old man and women got three dry ])oplar logs and 
fa.stened them together with grape vines, and got a board 
for a j)addle. The old nuin got on the raft and shoved it 
from the shore, lie finally reached the side where she 
was so Miixiously waiting, and she got on the other end of 




The escape of Mrs. Wiley from the Indiiiiis ;it tln' Falls of 
Little Mudliek Creek 



HARMAN'S STATION 81 

the raft and shoved it from the shore. Tlie ohl man be^^^au 
paddling for the shore from whence lie liad eome. The 
strong current carried tliem down the river some distance, 
and finally the vines began to come loose. The raft began 
to spread apart. The old man ceased ))addling and fell 
upon his knees and began to ])ray, l)ut Mrs. Wih^y Jiad more 
faith in " works " than in }»rayei-. She s<mz(m1 the paddle 
out of his hands, and while he prayed she paddled, and 
succeeded in ])i"0])elling the raft in under some swinging 
maple limbs that overhung the water. The old man 
grabbed hold of the limbs and pulled the raft ashoie ; they 
both reached dry land in safety. And none too soon, 
either; for just as they reached the top of the bank, three 
Indians came to the opposite shore, on her trail, and called 
out in a loud voice, '^ Whoopee, my pretty Jinnie ! " But 
'* Jinnie " was all right, for she had reached the fort, and 
the Indians not knowing that the men were all gone, were 
afraid to venture over. 



The following is the account of the captivity of Mrs. 
Wiley written by Rev. Zephaniah Meek, editor and pro- 
prietor of The Central Methodist, of Catlettsburg, Ken- 
tucky, for Dr. Ely's The Big Sandy Valley. With the 
exception of the date this brief sketch is singularly ac- 
curate. Mr. Meek was familiar with the stor>' of Mrs. 
Wiley almost all his life. I believe he was born near the 
Wiley homestead on the Big Sandy River. 

Jenny Wiley 

The most romantic histoiy in the early settlement of 
the Big Sandy Valley is that of Jenny Wiley. This histt)ry 
we proceed to give from the most reliable sources at our 
command, drawing our facts mainly from TTardesty's 
*' Historical and Biograi)hical Encyclopedia." 

There is hardly a man or woman in Eastern Kciihicky 
who is not familiar with the story of the life of tiiis re- 
markable woman. The facts of her ca]iture by the In- 
dians, escape from them, and return to her home, have 
been handed down from parent to child, and they are well 
remembered. Her maiden name was Jenny Sellards. She 
married Thomas Wilev, a native of Trelanrl, who h:id em- 



82 HARMAN'S STATION 

igrated and settled on Walker's Creek, in Wythe, now 
Tazewell County, Va., where they were living at the time 
of the capture by the Indians. She had a sister living near 
by, the wife of John Borders, who was the father of the 
Rev. John Borders, a noted Baptist preacher, Hezekiah 
Borders, Judge Archibald Borders, and several daughters. 
Several families named Haniion lived in the same neigh- 
borhood, some of whom were noted Indian scouts. 

At the time of the capture of Jenny, Thomas Wiley, her 
husband, was out in the woods digging ginseng. This was 
in the year 1790. The destruction of the Wiley family, as 
hereafter recorded, was a result of a mistake on the part 
of the savages. Some time previously, in an engagement 
with a party of Cherokees, one of the Harmons had shot 
and killed two or three of their number, and a party of five 
returned to seek vengeance on the Harmons, but ignorant 
of the location of their cabin, fell upon Wiley's instead. 

John Borders warned Mrs. Wiley that he feared Indians 
were in the neighborhood, and urged her to go to his house 
and remain until Wiley's return, but as she had a piece of 
cloth in the loom, she said she would finish it and then go. 
The delay on the part of Mrs. Wiley was a fatal one. 
Darkness came on, and with it came the attack upon the 
defenseless family. The Indians rushed into the house, 
nnd after tomahawking and scalping a younger brother 
and three of the children, and taking Mrs. Wiley, her in- 
fant (a year and a half old), and Mr. Wiley's hunting 
dog, started towards the Ohio River. At the time the In- 
dian trail led down what is now known as Jennie's Creek, 
and along it they proceeded until they reached the mouth 
of that stream, and then down Tug and Big Sandy rivers 
to the Ohio. 

No sooner had the news of the horrid butchery spread 
among the inhabitants of the Walker's Creek settlement 
than a party, among whom were Lazrus Damron and 
Matthias Harmon, started in ])ursuit. They followed on 
for several days, ])ut failing to come up with the pei-pe- 
trators of tlie terrible outrage, the pursuit was abandoned, 
and all returned to their homes. The Indians expected 
that they would be followed, and the infant of Mrs. Wiley 
])r()viiig an incumbrance to their flight, they dashed out its 
bniiiis against a beech tree when a sliort distance below 



HARMAN'S STATION 83 

where Mr. William C. Crum now resides, and two miles 
from Jennie's Creek. This tree was standing and well 
known to the inhabitants of this section during the first 
quarter of the present century. 

When the savages, with their captive, reached the Ohio, 
it was very much swollen ; with a shout of 0-high-o, they 
turned down that stream, and continued their journey to 
the mouth of the Little Sandy. Up that stream they went 
to the mouth of Dry Fork, and up the same to its head, 
when they crossed the dividing ridge and proceeded down 
what is now called Cherokee Fork of Big Blaine Creek, to 
a point within two miles of its mouth, where they halted and 
took shelter between a ledge of rocks. Here they remained 
for several months, and during the time Mrs. Wiley was 
delivered of a child. At this time the Indians were very 
kind to her; but when the child was three weeks old they 
decided to test him, to see whether he would make a brave 
warrior. Having tied him to a flat piece of wood they 
slipped him into the water to see if he would cry. He 
screamed furiously, and they took him by the heels and 
dashed his brains out against an oak tree. 

When they left this encampment they ])roceeded down 
to the mouth of Cherokee Creek, then up Big Blaine to the 
mouth of Hood's Fork, thence up that stream to its source ; 
from here they crossed over the dividing ridge to the 
waters of Mud Lick, and down the same to its mouth, 
where they once more formed an encampment. 

About this time several settlements were made on the 
headwaters of the Big Sandy, and the Indians decided to 
kill their captive, and accordingly prepared for the execu- 
tion ; but just when the awful hour was come, an old Chero- 
kee chief, who in the meantime had joined the party, pro- 
posed to buy her from the others on condition tluit she 
would teach his squaws to make cloth like the gown she 
wore. Thus was her life saved, but she was reduced to the 
most abject slavery, and was made to carr>" water, wood, 
and build fires. For some time they bound her when they 
were out hunting ; but as time wore away they relaxed their 
vigilance, and at last permitted her to remain unbound. 

On one occasion, when all were out from camp, they 
were belated, and at nightfall did not return, and Mrs. 
Wilev now resolved to earn- into eifect a long-cherished 



84 HARMAN'S STATION 

object, that of making her escape and returning to her 
friends. The rain was falling fast, and the night was in- 
tensely dark, but she glided away from the camp-fire and 
set out on her lonely and perilous journey. Her dog, the 
same that had followed the party through all their wan- 
derings, started to follow her, but she drove him back, lest 
by his barking he might betray her into the hands of her 
pursuers. She followed the course of Mud Lick Creek to 
its mouth, and then crossing Main Paint Creek, journeyed 
up a stream (ever since known as Jennie's Creek) a dis- 
tance of some miles, thence over a ridge and down a 
stream, now called Little Paint Creek, which empties into 
the Levisa Fork of Big Sandy River. When she reached 
its mouth it was day-dawn, and on the opposite side of the 
river, a short distance below the mouth of John's Creek, 
she could hear and see men at work erecting a block-house. 
To them she called, and informed them that she was a cap- 
tive escai)ing from the Indians, and urged them to hasten 
to her rescue, as she believed her pursuers to be close upon 
her. The men had no boat, but hastily rolling some logs 
into the river and lashing them together with grape-vines, 
they pushed over the stream and carried her back with 
them. As they were ascending the bank, the old chief who 
had claimed Jenny as his property, preceded by the dog, 
appeared upon the opposite bank, and striking his hands 
upon his breast, exclaimed in broken English, ''Honor, 
Jenny, honor! " and then disappeared in the forest. 

That was the last she ever saw of the old chief or her 
dog. She remained here a day or two to rest from her 
fatigue, and then with a guide made her way back to her 
home, having been in captivity more than eleven months. 
Here she rejoined her husband, who had long supposed 
her dead, and together, nine years after — in the year 
1800 — they abandoned their home in the Old Dominion, 
and found another near the mouth of Tom's Creek, on the 
))anks of the Levisa Fork of Big Sandy. Here her hus- 
l)aii(l died in the year 1810. She survived him twenty-one 
years, and died of paralysis in the year 1831. 

The Indians had killed her brother and five of her chil- 
• Ircii, hut after her return from captivity five others were 
l»<)ni, namely : Ilezekiah, Jane, Sally, Adam, and William. 

Iff'zcki.'ih married Miss Christine Nelson, of George's 




Mi's. \ViI('>' oil llic I\i\cr-lt;mk ojjpositc tlic Ulocklioiisc ciillinf,' tor lidp 



HARMAN'S STATION 85 

Creek, Kentucky, aud settled on Twelve Pole Creek, where 
he lived for many years ; he died in 1832, [ 1882 ], while on a 
visit to friends in Kentucky. Jane married Richard 
Williamson, who also settled on Twelve Pole. Sally first 
married Christian Yost, of Kentucky, and after hisdcath 
was united in marriage with Samuel Murray. Slie died 
March 10, 1871. William raised a large family, and after 
the sale of the Wiley fann moved to Tom's Creek, ahout 
two miles from the mouth, where he lived until his death. 

Of the children of Jenny Wiley, Adam P. was the most 
noted. In physique he was scarcely excelled by any man 
in the Sandy Valley. Tall, straight as an arrow, brown of 
skin, slow of movement and speech, he was an attractive 
figure to look upon. He was known far and wide as 
^ ' Vard ' ' Wiley, sometimes called * ' Adam Pre Vard. ' ' 
Why thus designated the writer is unable to say.* In his 
early life '' Vard " was a great fiddler, and carried his 
violin far and near, to make music for the young people to 
dance by. But uniting himself with the Baptist Church, 
he for a time gave up the fiddle and went to preaching. 
His sermons were, like himself, very long, and he was very 
zealous and earnest. After some years in the ministry — 
the number we do not remember — he gave up his calling, 
and was often seen making his old violin ring out charm- 
ing music for the young people at the log-rolling, house- 
raising, or corn-husking. He lived to a ripe old age, and 
died only a few years ago, at his home in Johnson County. 
Before his death he visited the vrriter, for the purpose of 
having him write out the life of his mother as he would de- 
tail it from memory, but our business engagements were 
such that it was impossible to comply with his request. 

The Wiley family, descendants of Jenny, are quite nu- 
merous in Johnson ; they are a hard working set of men, 
and retain in their memory the heroic life of Jenny Wiley 
as a heritage of priceless value. 

The farm upon which Mr. Wiley settled, just below the 
mouth of Tom's Creek, was known to all the old peoi)le, 
far and near, as the '' Wiley Farm." About forty years 
ago it was sold to James Nibert, who lived upon it until 

* His name was Adam Prevard Wiley. The name Adam was for .\dam 
Harman who settled at Draper's Meadows in 1748. The SellardB and 
Harman families intermarried. — B'ilHam E. ConnelU}i. 



86 BARMAN'S STATION 

some ten years ago, when he sold it to Samuel Spears, who 
is the present owner and occupant. 

As the writer was born and reared almost in sight of the 
•' AViley Farm," he is perfectly familiar with all the lead- 
ing facts in the life of Jenny Wiley, during her stay with 
the Indians, and after her escape. 

AMiile they were camping on Mud Lick, some six miles 
above where Paintsville now stands, she said they fre- 
([uently ran short of lead, and when they wanted to re- 
plenish their stock they had no trouble to do so, and in a 
very short time. They would go out in the forenoon, and 
after three or four hours' absence return with something 
which looked like stones. Then they would build a large 
fire out of logs, on sidling ground, throw the ore on, and it 
would melt and run off into trenches prepared for it; 
afterwards, as needed, it was moulded into bullets. But, 
notwithstanding the ease with which the Indians procured 
their lead, the whites have never been able to find the 
mines from which it was taken. Years have been spent 
in its search, and long pilgrimages have been made, by 
those claiming to be able to point out the place, but thus 
far to no purpose. 

Were we to repeat all the legends that have been handed 
down from the days of Jenny Wiley, they would seem too 
incredible for belief in this age, when romance and hard- 
ships are not so intimately associated as they were then. 
So, in the preparation of this chapter we have confined 
ourselves to facts, leaving out the fanciful, which the im- 
agination of the reader can supply. 

That there are vast lead mines in the valley of Paint 
Creek, ])erhaps on Mud Lick, there is little room to doubt. 
That they have never been found, in view of the universal 
belief of their existence, is likely due to the fact that the 
peo}tle in that section do not know lead ore when they see 
it. The stoiy of Jenny Wiley was abundantly confirmed 
by Indians friendly to the whites, in later days, but they 
would give no infonnation as to the location. We are 
sorry wo can not toll our readers where to find these mines ! 



1 iiiscit hcio Iho account written by H. Clay Kagland, 
Esq., editor and ])ro])rietor of the Logan County (West 
Virginia) lunmcr. Mr. Kagland wrote a history of his 



HARMAN'S STATION 87 

county in installments, which he published in his paper. 
While there are some errors in it, the history is very valu- 
able, and in the publication of it Mr. Ragland did his 
country a great service. I recognized its value as soon as 
I saw the first chapter, and procured it all; I have it 
pasted in a scrap book in consecutive order. It is one of 
the best annals of the valley yet written. The portion 
given here is chapter five in the series as published in the 
paper. 

History of Logan County 

By 

H. Clay Ragland 

Chapter V 

As eariy as 1777 Henry Hai-man, a native of Prussia, 
with his sons, Henry, George and Mathias, and Absalom 
Lusk, made a settlement in what is now known as Ab's 
Valley, in what is now Tazewell County. The place se- 
lected by them had formerly been occupied by Indian 
lodges, and a portion of the land was ready for cultivation. 
They were soon joined in their new settlement by John 
Draper, James Moore, James Evans, Samuel Wiley and 
George Maxwell, with their families, and thus strength- 
ened they felt themselves in a manner secure from Indian 
raids, and their horses and cattle were allowed to run at 
large in the fertile valley. For awhile all went well. The 
crops were planted and the wild game so abundant in the 
valley was hunted, and peace and plenty was promised. 
Indian eyes, however, watched from the wooded ridge to 
the west, and on a bright morning in the early summer of 
1778, Mathias Hanuan and John Draper were out hunting 
about a mile from the settlement, when, becoming sep- 
arated, young Harman shot a deer and then commenced 
to reload his rifle. Before he had finished ho was seized 
from behind by a stalwart Indian, and on looking up he 
saw several other Indians in a few feet of him, and he gave 
up without a struggle. The whoop which the Indians 
raised at his capture notified Draper of tlie fact and he 
hurried to the settlement with the news. IToniy Uannan 
and his sons Heniy and George at once seized their arms, 



88 HARMAN'S STATION 

and with Draper pursued rapidly after the Indians whom 
they overtook, on what is now known as Harman's branch, 
in McDowell County. Harman and his companions at 
once opened fire on the Indians, and when the fight was 
over young Harman was a free man, and five of the In- 
dians were dead on the field while the others had saved 
themselves by flight. None of the whites were hurt ex- 
cept Henry Harman, Sr., who was covered with wounds, 
six arrowheads being broken off in his flesh ; not extracted 
until he had been carried back to his home by his boys. 
Draper is said to have deserted during the fight, and on 
reaching the settlement had reported that Harman and all 
of his sons were killed. Eevenge is one of the strongest 
characteristics of the Indian, as well as all other uncivil- 
ized races, and doubtless the Indians who escaped with 
their lives from the fight of Harman's branch, dreamed 
of being revenged upon the little settlement of Ab's Val- 
ley ; yet bided their time until the little settlement should 
again feel themselves secure from attack. 

The crops for 1779 had been scarcely planted and young 
Mathias Harman was busy raising a company of Rangers 
to join the patriots in the Carolinas, when in the early 
part of the spring a party of some thirty Indians dropped, 
as if from the clouds, upon the little settlement, capturing 
first James Moore, who had gone to the pasture to look 
after his horses, and with a savage whoop, bursting into 
the houses, murdering the Wiley, Moore and Maxwell 
families, and capturing George Maxwell and Jennie Wiley, 
the wife of Samuel Wiley, and daughter of James Evans. 
The alann was soon given, and Captain Mathias Harman, 
with about forty men of the company which he had been 
raising, was soon in the saddle and ready for pursuit. 
General Preston, who had about one hundred men in his 
command was notified, and made a junction with Harman 
the next day at or near the present site of W^elch. With 
tliis force they pushed down the Tug River to its junction 
with Levisa, and then down the Big Sandy as rapidly as 
possible, keeping their scouts in advance of them, but 
they failed to overtake the Indians; in fact they lost all 
sign of their trail after passing the mouth of Jennie's 
(^reek, on Tug River. When in al)out eight miles of the 
mouth of the Big Sandy, at what is now White's Creek, 




Mrs. Wiley at the mouth of Little Paint Creek (Kast Point 
escape from tlie Indians 



in lit'r 



HARMAN'S STATION 89 

the scouts reported a large force of ludians, ostiinatcd at 
a thousand warriors, in front of them, and rapidly ad- 
vancing up the river. The men iiad not .stop})ed to liuut 
on the march, and they were entirely out of ])roviHions, 
and the forced march which they had made had jaded both 
horses and men. Less than one hundred and fifty men in 
a wilderness, more than two hundred miles from a settle- 
ment, fronted by a wily and savage foe, numbering more 
than five to one, and acquainted with eveiy mountain pass 
in the country, by which a party could have been thrown 
in their front and an ambuscade formed, was indeed a 
critical position. To fight was certain death and even 
retreat promised but little else. Nothing else, however, 
remained to be done, and posting his most ex]ierienced 
men in the rear of his column. Gen. Preston and his l)rave 
men, chagrined at their failure in recapturing the prison- 
ers who had been taken from Ab's Valley, set out on their 
weary retreat up the river. In the meantime a hea\'y rain 
had commenced, and the mountain streams were in ])laces 
overflowing their banks, making fording at times difficult, 
while the soft and yielding earth doubled the labor of the 
jaded steeds. 

The weary march was kept up during the night, but 
without incident. The next morning both deer and buffalo 
were in sight, but they were afraid to fire a gun lest their 
Indian pursuers might locate them and hurry forward, or 
worse still, send a column by some nearer route to inter- 
cept them. Arriving at the mouth of Marrowbone, they 
found the carcass of a buffalo, which had been left by the 
Indians on their retreat down the river, and tlie bones with 
what flesh had been left upon them, were divide<l among 
the men. A short distance above Marrowbone they came 
upon a gas spring which had been lighted. Hero they 
paused for the purpose of resting their horses, and of 
roasting, as best they could, the meat and bones which they 
had found at the mouth of Marrowbone. Some of the men 
to satisfy their hunger, cut the tugs from their saddles 
and roasted them over the s])ring. After a short rest the 
gallant little band again took up their line of march up 
the river. Arriving at the month of Piiroon. they found 
that Charles Lewis, who had been taken si(*k on their 
march down the river, and left at that ])lace in cliarge of 
two companions, had died. Tliey liastily dng a grave and 



90 BARMAN'S STATION 

buried him, but just as the last sad rites were being com- 
pleted, scouts reported the Indian column but a short dis- 
tance below. Examining the creek, and finding it out of 
its banks and covered with driftwood and debris, they 
concluded that it was dangerous to attempt to cross it in 
the face of the foe, and leaving the old trail, they took up 
their line of march up the northeastern bank of the creek, 
hoping to find further up the stream where it could be 
forded, a gap in the mountain by which they could return 
to the old trail on the river. Arriving at what is now the 
mouth of Hell Creek, they went up that stream, thinking 
it would lead them to the old trail, but after proceeding 
about three miles they found in front of them an impass- 
ible barrier of stone and they were forced to retrace their 
steps to Pigeon, expecting to encounter there the whole 
force of the Indians. Every gun was examined and a 
fresh charge of powder put in every pan of their flint-lock 
rifles. On reaching Pigeon they were agreeably surprised 
in meeting their scouts to learn that the Indians had gone 
into camp at the mouth of the creek, throwing only a few 
scouts across the creek on the old trail. 

Gen. Preston then determined to follow the creek to its 
head, intending to rest for awhile wherever game could be 
found. A short distance up the creek and at the mouth of 
a small creek flowing into Pigeon from the eastward, sev- 
eral! elks were seen, which were speedily brought down by 
the trusty rifles, and the party went into camp, picketing 
their horses so they could feed on the wild grass which was 
abundant. There were no signs of Indians during the 
afternoon or night, and after partaking of a hasty meal 
the next morning the command slowly resumed its march 
up the creek. A hunting party under charge of Ben Cole 
was sent on in advance for the purpose of hunting game 
and fixing up a camp for the next night. This little party 
])ushed to the front, leaving a trail by which the main col- 
umn could be guided, never leaving the creek until they 
came to its head. Here they crossed over the mountain 
and wended their way down a small stream until they 
came to what is now known as the '' Forks of Ben Creek," 
where they found both game and grass abundant, and 
Coh', selecting it as the cam]ung ground for the night, 
made ])i('));n;itions for the command, sending a part of 




Tlio TndiMns on the River-bank opposite the l-5Ioekhouse 
Wih'y liad been taken from this point on the 
Raft a few minutes before 



HARMAN'S STATION 91 

his men out to kill game. Gen. Preston on arriving went 
into camp, and next morning, having heard nothing fur- 
ther of the Indian force, detennined to give his men and 
horses a much-needed rest. It was to him and his com- 
mand a new country, and scouts were sent out in every 
direction for the purpose of finding out what they could of 
the surrounding country, as well as their distance from 
the old trail over which they had traveled. It was soon 
ascertained that they were within a mile of the old trail 
that led up the Tug River, and that they were really 
camped on another trail that led from the river up the 
creek. Scouts following this latter trail found that it 
crossed over a gap of a mountain to another creek which 
flowed into the Guyandotte Eiver, and now known as Gil- 
bert's Creek. 

After resting a few days. Gen. Preston sent the com- 
mand of Capt. Harman back to the settlements, and 
crossed with his command to the Guyandotte River, where, 
after reconnoitering the country as far down as the mouth 
of Buffalo Creek, and then after resting a few days and 
feasting on buffalo which were found in large herds, he 
took up his line of march for the settlements, passing up 
Huff's Creek by the grave of Peter Huff, which being rec- 
ognized by some of the men, who were with Huff when he 
was killed, the command paused and refilled the sunken 
grave with fresh earth and marched back to the settle- 
ments on New River by the same route over which Capt. 
Hull had returned two years before. 

Mr. Rag] and places the date of the captivity of Mrs. 
Wiley in 1779. It is evident that this date is much too 
early ; it is the year given me by Adam P. Wiley as that in 
which his parents were united in marriage. At the time 
of the destruction of their family they had four children. 
Mr. Ragland has the events and dates mixed in the treat- 
ment of this and other matters in relation to the history of 
the Big Sandy Valley. He fixes the number of Indians in 
the party at "about thirty" or ''some thirty." He 
makes the pursuing party consist of the expedition com- 
manded by General Andrew Lewis, and which was sent 
out in Pebruar}% 1756, and which is known in histor>' as 



92 BARMAN'S STATION 

the * ' Sandy Creek Voyage. ' ' He has the expedition com- 
manded by General William Preston and Captain Matthi- 
as Harman. 




EN DIEU EST TOUT 
FIAT DEI VOLUNTAS 



Arms Of The. Connelly Family 



THE CONNELLY FAMILY 



THE CONNELLY FAMILY 

The Connelly Family, we are told, is descended from 
Milesius,^ King of Spain, through the line of his son Here- 
mon. The founder of the family was Eogan, ancestor of 
the Northern Hy Nials and son of Nial of the Nine Host- 
ages, King of Ireland, A. D. 379. The ancient name was 
Conally and signifies " A Light." 

The possessions of the clan were located in the present 
counties of Gal way, Meath, and Donegal. The Connellys 
were also chiefs in Fermanagh. 

The names Connelly, Conally, Conneally, Connolly, Con- 
neallan, 'Connell, and other names of Irish families, are 
derived from the ancient Milesian name-O'CoNOHALAiGH. 

The Connelly family is a Southern one in America. It 
has been our boast and our pride that it was one of the 
first families in the ancient and honorable Commonwealth 
of South Carolina. Thomas Connelly and his brother 
Edmund, and perhaps two other brothers, John and 
Henry, came from County Armagh, Ireland, and settled at 
Old Albemarle Point about the year 1689. This settle- 
ment was moved later, to become Charlestown, in the col- 
ony of South Carolina; it is now the metropolis of the 
state of South Carolina, and the name is written Charles- 
ton. 

These brothers were men of fortune and alTairs, and 
they obtained large grants of land from the proprietors 

1 Genealogy of Irish Families, by John Rooney, p. 420. Because of 
this descent the family belontjs to that people called Milesians in Ireland. 
The Milesians subdued and conquered the primitive race in Ireland, the 
Firbolgs, the small, bow-legged, long-armed, red-headed, Irishmen of today 
The Milesians have dark hair and eves and very fair oomi>h'xion. 



96 THE CONNELLY FAMILY 

of the colonies, one such grant embracing, it is said, a por- 
tion of the present site of the city of Charleston. It is said, 
too, that they never parted with the title to this tract. 
They engaged in town building and the purchase, subdi- 
vision and sale of large tracts of land in various colonies, 
but principally in Virginia and the Carolinas. They in- 
duced many Germans to move from Pennsylvania to the 
Carolinas, so the traditions in our family say, a colony of 
whom they settled on their lands near the present town of 
Camden, South Carolina. In this business their descend- 
ants were also engaged, and it became necessary for them 
to send members of the family to live in different parts of 
the country, especially in Pennsylvania and Virginia, to 
prevail on persons to migrate to their lands and towns in 
the Carolinas. And they engaged largely in traffic and 
merchandising by sea, owning vessels which plied between 
the different colonies and which visited the West India 
Islands. They also traded extensively with the Creek and 
Cherokee Indians. 

In the Revolution the Connellys fought in the patriot 
armies of Virginia, the Carolinas, and Pennsylvania. 
They served under Washington, Greene, Morgan, Gates, 
Howard (of Maryland), Lincoln, and Charles Cotesworth 
Pinckney. At the close of the Revolution many of them 
moved to the West, and the family became still more wide- 
ly scattered. There is a belt of them extending across 
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and to Central Missouri. Some 
members of the family settled at a very early day in the 
wilderness of Northwestern Pennsylvania, and many of 
their descendants are to be found there. Quite a number 
of tliem settled in Kentucky, in different parts of the State. 
Descendants of these pioneer brothers are to be found in 
Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and 
Texas. Indeed, there are descendants of this early family 
in every Western State and Territory. They remain in 
large niinihors in the Carolinas, Virginia, and Pennsyl- 




Dr. PIenry Connelly 



One of the first traders overland from Missouri to 
northern Mexico. An explorer in Mexico, New Mexico, 
Texas, and Oklahoma. Was long a merchant at Chihua- 
hua. Appointed Governor of New Mexico by Prtsident 
Lincoln. Born in Nelson (now Spencer) County, Ken 
tucky, in the year 1800. Died at Santa Fe. New Mexico, 
in July, 1866. 

[From photograph in possesition of his son, Pctrr Con- 
nelly, Kansas City, Mo.] 



THE CONNELLY FAMILY i^ 

vania. They have been exceedingly piolilic, very large 
iamilies having- been the rule from the first. Conservative 
estimates place the number of descendants of Captain 
Henry Connelly, who, after the Revolution, moved from 
North Carolina to Virginia and from thence to Kentucky, 
at certainly more than one thousand, and possibly more 
than two thousand, counting only the living. The writer 
once had a list of thirty Connelly families in Eastern Ken- 
tucky, each of which had ten or more children. The name 
is now written in various forms, and there has been, of 
late years, a tendency to shorten it to Conley, all the im- 
mediate relatives of this author so writing it. Some of the 
Illinois relatives write it Connelli, and accent the second 
syllable. Taken all together, the Connellys have been men 
of fair fortune. They have been of influence in every com- 
munity in which they have lived. Many of them havi; been 
possessed of fine literary taste — some of them fair lit 
erary ability. They have been ever in the advance guard 
in the spread of civilization over the West, and in a num- 
ber of States they have been pioneers. In the Civil War 
they were divided according to the locality in which they 
lived, but they fought on either one side or the other al- 
most to a man. Constantine Couley, the father of this 
writer, was in the Union army, from Eastern Kentucky 
(the Forty-fifth Regiment, Mounted Infantry). 

One of the most distinguished members of the family 
was Dr. Henry Connelly, late Governor of New ^Fexico. 
He was bom in Nelson County, Kentucky, in the y<»ar 
1800. His father was John Donaldson Connelly, born in 
Virginia, and either brother or first cousin to Captain 
Henry Connelly, later to be mentioned herein. Dr. Con- 
nelly graduated in medicine from the Transylvania Uni- 
versity, Lexington, Kentucky, in 1828, and went that same 
year to Clay County, Missouri, to practice his profession. 
But there forming the accpiaintance of one Powell, an 
overland trader, he joined his expedition, undei* one 



98 THE CONNELLY FAMILY 

Stephenson, to Chihuahua, Mexico, where he became a 
merchant. In partnership with Edward J. Glasgow, he 
amassed a large fortune. He married a Spanish lady. 
The War with Mexico, in 1846, made it necessary for him 
to leave that country, and a large part of his fortune was 
confiscated. He went to New Mexico and met General 
Kearny and Colonel Doniphan entering that country to 
annex it to the United States. He took part in their op- 
erations, aiding them in many ways. At the close of the 
war he settled in what is now Valencia County and again 
engaged extensively in merchandising. His first wife hav- 
ing died, he married there Dolores Perea, widow of Jose 
Chavez. President Lincoln appointed him Governor of 
New Mexico, and to him, more than to any other man, be- 
longs the honor of saving the Territory to the Union in 
the Civil War. He died in 1866 from an over-dose of med- 
icine. He has many descendants in New Mexico, and his 
son, Peter Connelly, Esq., has long been a highly esteemed 
citizen of Kansas City, Mo. Dr. Connelly was one of those 
hardy pioneers to whom the United States owes the ex- 
tension of her borders. For nearly forty years his cara- 
vans were among the largest that annually crossed the 
Plains over the Old Santa Fe Trail. He led a large party 
from Chihuahua to Fort Towson, on the Red River, Choc- 
taw Nation, now Oklahoma, in 1839. He spent the winter 
at that fort, returning to Chihuahua in 1840. In this trip 
he explored a large part of what is now Oklahoma and 
Texas, and he marked out new routes for commerce. 

Pjdmund Connelly, the youngest son of Henry Connelly, 
is said to have married, in South Carolina, a lady named 
Mary Edgefield. They left sons and daughters, among 
tboni, Harmon and Thomas. 

Ilannon Connelly moved to North Carolina, where he 
owned lands on the then frontier. Tradition says that he 
there married the daughter of a physician named Hicks. 
This Hicks, it is affirmed, had married the daughter of a 



THE CONNELLY FAMILY 99 

Scotchman who was engaged in trading with the Clierokees, 
and who had married a Clierokee woman ; he seems to have 
roamed the country tributary to the Little Tennessee. 
Hannon Connelly appears to have been of an adventurous 
disposition, for it is related that he made several visits to 
the wilderness of Kentucky, one of which was about 17(J3.= 
Thomas Connelly followed in the steps of his fore- 
fathers and dealt in lands and townsites. In this business 
he was often in Pennsylvania, where, it seems, he must 
have settled, as others of his family had done. Whom he 
married is not known, but in the light of recent reliable in- 
formation it must have been a Pennsylvania Dutch woman. 
Our family traditions have always said that the Connelly 
family in Kentucky had a strain of Dutch blood, though as 
to the ancestor from whom it flowed we were never in- 
formed.^ 

V Harmon Connelly and Thomas Connelly were in the 
War of the Revolution. Thomas returned from Pennsyl- 
vania to North Carolina and lived in Guilford County. 
He was getting old, but he served for a time in the First 
South Carolina Regiment, commanded by Colonel Cliarles 
Cotesworth Pinckney. His service was in the defense of 
Charleston, where he had gone to consult Colonel Pinck- 
ney, who was his attorney in some business growing out of 
land owned about that city by his ancestors. This service 
was in the winter of 1779-80. It is said, also, by the tradi- 
tions of our family, that he was wounded at the Battle of 
King's Mountain, the following October, being there shot 

2 Before coming into possession of all these facts and when I supposed 
I had obtained complete infonnation I believed Hannon and Thomas mar 
ried sisters, daughters of this Dr. Hicks, and so v.rote it in my apj>lication 
for membership in the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. 
The family Bible of Captain Henry Connelly disproves this, and I had 
learned before seeing it, from the pension |pa])ers of the Captain, that this 
was an error. 

3 Uncle Edmund Connelly, son of Captain Henry Connelly, always fwiid 
that bis grandmother was a Pennsylvania Dutch woman. We never ^;avo 
it credit until I saw the pension pai)ers of Captain Henry Connelly. 



100 THE CONNELLY FAJVIILY 

through the body ; and the above-mentioned Dr. Hicks is 
said to have passed a silk handkerchief several times 
througli the wound — through the body — to cleanse it. 
The soldier died from the effect of this wound some two 
years later. 

Captain Henry Connelly, the Revolutionary soldier, was 
the son of the above mentioned Thomas Connelly. He was 
bom in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and came with his 
father to Guilford County, North Carolina, while yet a 
child, probably soon after Braddock's defeat. Thomas 
Connelly was a soldier in Braddock's expedition and was 
at the defeat. And it is probable that it was the expedition 
and its disastrous results which caused him to return to 
North Carolina. 

The Clan MacAlpine 

The (Jlan MacAlpine is believed to be the most ancient 
clan of the Highlands of Scotland. There is an old Gaelic 
tradition which says the origin of the clan was contem- 
porary with the formation of hillocks and streams. The 
Mac Alpines are descended from the ancient people whose 
successors became kings of Scotland for twenty-five gen- 
erations. The war cry of the clan is ' ' Remember the 
death of Alpin," alluding to the murder of King Alpin 
by Brudus after the Picts defeated the Scots near Dundee 
in the year 834. The seat of the ancient clan was in 
Arg>ilshire. 

The Clan MacAlpine is one of the oldest families in the 
world with an authentic history. A daughter of this old 
clan -Edith MacAlpine -is the maternal ancestor of all 
the Connellys, Conleys, Connelleys, and Langleys, and 
many of tlie Salyers, Holbrooks, Stampers, Halls, McCoys, 
Grahams, Underwoods, Spradlins, Williams, Stapletons, 
Ifamiltons, Jajmes, Hackworths, Caudills, McGuires, 
Mays, I^itricks, Rices, Prices, Blairs, Webbs, Fairchilds, 
Kobinsons, juid many other Eastern Kentuckv families. 



THE CONNELLY FAMILY KU 

The Clan MacGbegor 

The most famous clan in Scotland was that of Mac- 
Gregor. It claims descent from Gregor, third son of King 
Alpin, who ruled Scotland about the year 787, and the clan 
is spoken of in Scotland as the Clan Alpin. The motto 
of the clan is ^'Srioghail mo r//^ream"-'' Royal is my 
race. ' ' 

Sir Walter Scott found more in the annals of tiio (Man 
MacGregor for his famous Waverley Novels than in t)ie 
lore of all the other clans of Scotland. Rob Roy was Rob- 
ert Roy MacGregor, and the novel of that name is an 
account of the adventures of that famous Borderer. In 
his Legend of Montrose Scott finds some of his most inter- 
esting characters among the Children of the Mist, who 
were the MacGregors, this being one of their ancient 
names. In his history of the clan Scott gives much r-urious 
and interesting information about the MacGregors. Tie 
says ''that they were famous for their misfortunes and 
the indomitable courage with which they maintained them- 
selves as a clan. The MacGregors strove to retain their 
lands by the cold steel." They had extensive possessions 
in Argyllshire and Perthshire which they held by the 
sword. No other clan in Scotland ever did so much fight- 
ing for their rights or for their country. 

The ancient seat of the Clan MacGregor was along both 
sides of Loch Tay, and in modern times they have lived 
about the old Church of Balquhidder, where Rob Koy is 
buried. 

Next to the MacAlpine the MacGregoi- is the oldest of 
Highland clans, and these two are closely related, one 
being a branch of the other. The MacGregors an' now 
scattered all over the world, and many of them have l)een 
eminent as statesmen, soldiers, scholars. They are often 
distinguished by a stern and haughty bearing, arisiim- from 
a consciousness of having played a famous and honorable 



102 THE CONNELLY FAMILY 

part in the wars of Scotland and the world, giving them a 
sense of superiority they are always ready to maintain 
by an api^eal to arms. 

We are proud of our descent from the Clan MacGregor. 

Archibald MacGregor, of the Clan MacGregor, High- 
lands of Scotland, espoused the cause of Charles Edward, 
the Young Pretender, in 1745, as did his clan and his 
country. He was a young man of fine stature and immense 
physical strength. His clan was not in the battle of Cullo- 
den Moor, having been stationed at another point, so it is 
said in the traditions of our family, but he had been sent 
to the commander of the Pretender forces with despatches, 
and so was on that disastrous field. There he was dread- 
fully wounded, being left on the gory field for dead, and 
his body stripped by the Royalist looters. He, however, 
revived and with great difficulty and much sutfering 
reached his own country. There he was concealed until 
he had recovered somewhat from his wounds, when he 
succeeded in escaping to the colony of North Carolina, 
where so many of his countrymen were then living. There 
he married Edith MacAlpine, the daughter of a Highland- 
er who had also been in the battle of Culloden Moor, and 
who had with great difficulty escaped with his family to 
America. 

MacGregor never fully recovered from his wounds. His 
daughter Ann was bom February 14, 1756, and some two 
years later he died. His widow married a Scotchman 
named Langley, and by him had several children. Ann 
MacGregor, growing up with these Langley children, was, 
it is said, always called Ann Langley by her friends and 
ac(iuaintances. Some of these Langleys moved from 
North (Carolina to the Big Sandy region of Kentuck^^ at an 
early day, and their descendants may be yet found there. 

Captain Henr>' Connelly married Ann MacGregor. 
Xoither the date nor the locality of this marriage is known, 
but it must liave been early in 1774, for their first child 



THE CONNELLY FAMILY 103 

was born in June, 1775. Tlie family Bible of Captain 
Henry Connelly had the following record, which 1 re- 
moved, and which is now in my library. The Bible was 
found in the Caudill family, in Johnson County, Ky., in 
1902. It was published in Philadelphia in 1802, and it is 
not the Bible spoken of in the pension papers, in which the 
date of his birth was recorded by his father '' in Dutch," 
as he says in his pension declaration. As he had a son 
Henry he was Henry Connelly, senior : 

Henry Connelly, sieg'', was born May 2d, A. D. 1752. 

[In his pension declaration he says he was born 
in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and removed 
to North Carolina with his father.] 

Ann Connelly, his wife, was born February 14th, A. D. 
1756. 

[Her maiden name was not given, as it should 
have been.] 

Edmund Connelly, a son of Heni-y and Ann Connelly, 
was born June 2d, A. D. 1775. 

[I remember him very well. He married, in 
North Carolina, a Miss Joynes. He lived to a 
great age. His home was at the head of the 
State-road Fork of the Licking River, in what 
is now Magoffin County, Kentucky, where I 
often visited him when a lad. He said his 
grandmother was a Pennsylvania Dutch wom- 
an. I have seen him at my father's house, in 
Salyersville, and have heard him tell much of 
the early history of our family, but as T did not 
write it down at the time, what lie said became 
confused in my mind, and it has taken nmch 
labor to correct many errors into which I had 
fallen. I was too young to fully comprehend 
the importance of what he said, and T had not 
then learned to write well enough to make a 
record. I was at religious services held in liis 
house in 1865, and he lived some years after 
that.] 



104 THE CONNELLY FAMILY 

Thomas Connelly, a son of Henry and Ann Connelly, 
was born 25tli of January, A. D. 1777. 

[He was my great grandfather. He was married 
in North Carolina to Susan Joynes. She was 
the sister of the wife of his brother Edmund. 
A number of their children were born in North 
Carolina. It is probable that they moved, with 
his father, the Captain, to Botetourt County, 
Virginia, where lived many of the Connellys, 
and after a residence of some years there, 
moved to Kentucky, settling first in the Indian 
Bottom, on the Kentucky River, at the mouth 
of the Rockhouse Pork, in what is now Letcher 
County, where their son, Henry Connelly, my 
grandfather, was born, in 1810. They moved 
to what is now Johnson County, Kentucky, and 
settled on the main branch of Jennie's Creek, 
at the mouth of Mill Creek, where they opened 
one of the largest and best farms in the county, 
which was afterwards for many years the home 
of Martin R. Rice, Esq., long the wealthiest 
citizen of Johnson County. From this farm 
they moved to a large farm at the mouth of 
Miller's Creek, near the Limestone Cliffs, four 
or five miles above Paintsville. This farm was 
long known as the Burd Preston farm. There 
Thomas Connelly died and was buried. My 
grandfather, Henry Connelly, there grew to 
manhood. Peter Mankins was their neighbor, 
and a good one he was ; later he moved to Wash- 
ington County, Arkansas, where he died at the 
age of one hundred and fourteen years. He 
came from North Carolina to Kentucky with 
the (/onnellys. My great grandmother lived 
for many years with my gTandfather, Henry 
Connelly, on the head of the Middle Pork of 
Jennie's Creek, and she died there in the sum- 
wov of 1875, aged about ninety-two. She was 
<les('euded from Prench Huguenot families 
named Partonairre and Guyon or Guyan. Her 
unde, Heniy Guyan, is said to have had a trad- 
ing establishment at the mouth of the Guyan- 



THE CONNELLY FAMILY 100 

dotte River, West Virgiuia, as early as IT.jO. 
By some it is said that the river took its name 
from him, though I am of the opinion that it 
was named, because the Wyandot Indians 
found it a favorite hunting-ground, in theii- 
honor or for them, and was later corrupted to 
Guyandotte. 

My grandfather, Henry Connelly, married 
Eebecca, daughter of George Blair, and settled 
on the farm above-mentioned. My father, Con- 
stantine Conley, was bom and reared on that 
farm, and when he married he was given a i)or- 
tiou of it — the Wolf Pen Branch — upon which 
he built a hewed-log house, where he went to 
housekeeping, and where I was born. My 
grandfather died and was buried on liis farm, 
and many others of my kindred are there bur- 
ied, including my great grandmother, above 
mentioned.] 

Pegg>^ Connelly, a daughter of Henry and Ann Con- 
nelly, was bom August 8th, A. D. 1779. 
[Of her I have learned nothing.] 

David Connelly, a son of Henry and Ann Connelly, was 
born June 24th, A. D. 1781. 

[Of him I have not learned anything. | 

Rachel Connelly, a daughter of Henry and Ann Con- 
nelly, was born April 8th, A. D. 1783. 

[She married James Spradlin, senior, who settK'«l 
at the mouth of the Twin Branches, on the main 
branch of Jennie's Creek, at a very early day. 
Spradlin was one of the pioneers of Eastern 
Kentucky, and was a substantial and exec H en t 
citizen. He left many descendants. I remem- 
ber him well, for he lived to be almost a liun 
dred years old. He was bowed with the wciglil 
of his years, and after he was ninety I iiavc 
seen him on horseback, riding to Paint sville. 
T helped to dig his grave, and my fatlier assist- 
ed to place him in his coffin. So IxMit forward 
was his head that the coffin-lid would not dose, 



106 THE CONNELLY FAMILY 

and it was sawed off by my father so as to reach 
only to his breast. Then the lid of the box 
which enclosed the coffin bore heavily on his 
head, when nailed on. His death must have 
occurred in the year 1871 -possibly in 1872. 
He died at the home of his stepson, William 
Evans, who lived at the foot of the gap on the 
road to Barnett's Creek, perhaps a mile from 
the old Spradlin homestead, which was then 
owned by Martin R. Rice. He was buried on 
the hill across the Lower Twin Branch from his 
old home. I am unable to say when his wife 
Rachel died.] 

John Connelly, a son of Henry and Ann Connelly, was 
born August 8th, A. D. 1785. 

[He married in North Carolina a sister of my 
great grandmother, Susan Joynes Connelly. He 
settled on Little Paint Creek, near where the 
road from Paintsville to Salyersville strikes it, 
and in this vicinity, also, lived his father. Cap- 
tain Henry Connelly. Hairston Litteral, Esq. 
(almost invariably spoken of as "Austin " Lit- 
teral) lived near this point for sixty years. The 
descendants of John Connelly live mostly about 
the Flat Gap, Johnson County, Kentucky^ his 
children having intermarried with those of a 
settler named Jayne at that point.] 

Henry Connelly, Jun^, a son of Henry and Ann Con- 
nelly, was bora December 1st, A. D. 1787. 

[I knew him very well. He lived on the East 
Branch of the State-road Fork of Licking Riv- 
er, in Magoffin Countj^, Kentucky. His faiTU 
lay above that of Jilson Prater, father of Jeff 
Prater, now a wealthy banker of Salyersville. 
I have been at the house of Uncle Henry fre- 
quently. He was quite old, somewhat corpu- 
lent, but large and erect. He was a kindly 
man, but Aunt Polly was of sharp feature, sour 
visage, and cutting tongue. I have not any 
pleasant recollections of her. She was tall and 
bony, and I was afraid of her, and think Uncle 



THE CONNELLY FAMILY 107 

Henry had a dread of her two-edged tongue. 
I have not the date of his death,] 

Elizabeth Connelly, a daughter of Henry and Ann Con- 
nelly, was born April 8th, A. D. 1789. 

[I know nothing of her; am uncertain as to her 
having lived to womanhood, though she may 
have married and left children.] 

William Connelly, a son of Henry and Ann Connelly, 
was born July 8th, A. D. 1791. 

[He was a millwright, and was drowned in the 
ford of the Big Sandy River below the mouth 
of Abbott's Creek, two miles below Prestons- 
burg, Floyd County, Kentucky. He was build- 
ing a mill there at the time. The weather was 
warm, and after eating dinner one day he and 
his workmen went bathing or swimming in the 
deep water above the ford. He was a fine 
swimmer, but it was supposed that having so 
recently eaten caused some revulsion of nature 
when he had been in the water a few minutes, 
and he sank and drowned before assistance 
could be had. His body washed through the 
ford and settled in a deep eddy below. His 
men joined hands and formed a line reaching to 
him and rescued him. He was unmarried, a 
young man of great promise, and was sincerely 
mourned by the settlers. He was buried on 
the farm of my great grandfather, at the mouth 
of Miller's Creek.] 

Joseph Connelly, a son of Henry and Ann Connelly, 
was born July 8th, A. D. 1795. 

[I have no information concerning him other than 
this entry.] 

The above is an exact copy, excepting my comments, 
with the difference that the name is uniformly written 
"Connely." There is no '*A. D." in the dates of William 
and Joseph. The record is well writtc^n in blue ink, and 
was evidently copied at one sitting from some other rec- 



108 THE CONNELLY FAMILY 

ord, for the writing is uniform. The writing is not that 
of Captain Connelly. He wrote his name on the inside 
front cover of the Bible, and the signature is in a fine, firm, 
bold one, and the name is written "Connelly." I took it 
out of the Bible, tearing off the white lining-sheet of the 
cover, and I have the signature in my library. It is the 
same signature I saw affixed to papers in the Pension 
Bureau. Each and every letter is distinctly and perfectly 
formed, and the signature was rapidly written, as is evi- 
dent from its appearance. It is ''Henry Connelly Sen^." 

There is no record of marriages and none of deaths, 
except the entry: 

Henry Connelly, Sen^", deceased May the 7th, 1840. 

On a leaf inserted in the Bible is the record of the 
Hitchcock family, as follows: 

John Hitchcock was born Jan. the 2nd, 1772. 

Temperance Hitchcock, his wife, was born March 22nd, 
1781. 

Names and births of the above named parents. 

Phebe Hitchcock was bom Dec. 5th, 1798. 

Margaret Hitchcock was bom July 25th, 1800. 

John Hitchcock was born Sept. 8th, 1803. 

Parker Hitchcock was bom Sept. 1st, 1805. 

The date of the death of Ann Connelly is not given, and 
I have not been able to discover it, but it must have oc- 
curred about 1830. In 1832 (March 8th) Captain Con- 
nelly married Temperance Hitchcock, above named, widow 
til en of John Hitchcock. The Hitclicocks were Quakers, 
and came to Kentucky from North Carolina, and it is 
])ossible that they there knew Captain Connelly and 
family. Prom the Hitchcock family here mentioned are 
descended many of the Caudills, Pelphreys, and all the 
Hitclicocks of Johnson and Magoffin counties, Kentucky. 

I )()\vii to the family Bible from which the foregoing rec- 
ord is taken our infoimation rests on traditions told in our 
faniily, and not on written records, and later research may 



THE CONNELLY FAMILY 100 

discover some errors, though I am of the opinion that it 
will be confirmed largely, if not completely, for I have 
devoted much time to sifting the matter and gathering 
information. I was fortunate in knowing the old people 
of the family, with whom I talked from my youth up. The 
record of Dr. Heniy Connelly, Governor of New Mexico, 
and of his family, is made from written documents. 

Heniy Connelly was a captain of cavalry, in the War 
of the Eevolution, in North Carolina. The record of this 
service is contained in the declarations made in application 
for a pension, now on file in the Bureau of Pensions, 
Washington, and of which I made complete copies in the 
year 1902. These declarations are set out here : 

State of Kentucky ) 
County of Floyd ( ^^ 

DECLARATION 

On this 15th day of August, 1833, personally appeared 
before me, James Davis, a Justice of the Peace now sit- 
ting, Henry Connelly, a resident of Floyd County, and 
State of Kentucky, aged Eighty-one years, who being first 
duly sworn according to law doth on his oath make the 
following declaration, in order to obtain the benefit of the 
act of Congress passed June 7th, 1832: 

That he entered the service of the United States under 
the following named officers and served as herein stated : 

That he entered the sei-vice and commanded one hundred 
men as State troops of North Carolina (called militia) 
as the Captain thereof on the 7th day of July, 1777, for 
five years or during the war in the County of Guilford, 
North Carolina. TTis Colonel in the first inst-ance was 
Colonel John Williams. Then under Colonel Paisley. 
Then by Colonel John Taylor. And lastly, by Colonel 
Billy Washington. This applicant's company was a Horse 
Company and was raised for the es])(Minl pnri)ose of keep 



110 THE CONNELLY FAMILY 

ing down a daring Tory Colonel by the name of Fanning 
who had made several daring attempts in the neighbor- 
hood of Salisbury and Charlotte.* During the first year 
of the service of this applicant, by the orders of his Col- 
onel, the company traversed and marched to Rowan and 
Guilford in order to keep Fanning and his confederates 
down. During this year, in the month of October, the 
company encountered his scouts and routed them with 
some loss. The general rendezvous of the Tories was in 
that region of the country called the Haw Ford on Haw 
River. These counties and the adjacent neighborhood 
was assigned to the applicant's charge by his Excellency, 
the Governor of North Carolina, in the month of June, 
1778. This this applicant and his company continued to do 
during this year 1778. And that winter he and his com- 
pany rendezvoused at Salisbury. The particulars of this 
year's service was only a few fights with the Tories. The 
war was raging in the North, whither that distinguished 

* Fanning, the Tory, mentioned here was the famous and notorious outlaw 
of the Revolution. He was born in Johnston County, North Carolina, in the 
year 1754, "of obscure parentage." The poverty of his condition was such 
that he was ' ' bound out ' ' for his support to a Mr. Bryant, who proved a cruel 
and perhaps brutal master, and Fanning ran away when about sixteen. His 
plight was so miserable that some of his acquaintances secured for him a 
home with a substantial citizen, John O. Deniell, who lived at the Haw Fields, 
in Orange County. He had the scald head and was not allwoed to eat at the 
table with the family, nor was he permitted to sleep in a bed. When grown 
up he always wore a silk cap — his most intimate friends never saw his head 
uncovered. When about twenty years of age he went to trade with the 
Catawba Indians, in South Carolina, and there accumulated considerable prop- 
erty. Up to this time he had been a Whig. As he returned to North Caro- 
lina ho was set upon and robbed of all his property by ' ' some lawless fel- 
lows, ' ' whom he supposed to be Whigs. He immediately became a bitter and 
relentless Tory and sought every opportunity to wreak vengeance on Whigs 
indiscriminately and to injure the Revolutionary cause. He murdered, as he 
says, many (latriots and burned their houses. He was bold and daring and 
succeeded in capturing Governor Burke, of North Carolina, whom he carried 
a prisoner into the British lines. He was the Quantrill of the Revolution. 

At the close of the Revolution he went to Florida. He wished to return 
to North ('arolina, but he was always excepted in bills of amnesty passed by 
the Legislature and remained, consequently, proscribed and exiled. He 



THE CONNELLY FAMILY 111 

and active officer, Colonel William Davidson had ^one, and 
all remaining for the constituted authorities to do was to 
keep down the Tories, which were so numerous in this 
region of North Carolina. During this year, 1778, the 
men suffered much for clothes and every necessaiy, and 
our forage master frequently had to press forage for our 
perishing horses. Continental money was then one hun- 
dred dollars for one -for this applicant could not get a 
breakfast for $100 in Continental money. During this 
year, by order of the Governor, this applicant's comjiany 
was placed under the direction of Colonel Davie, who then 
commanded the North Carolina Cavalry ; but he renewe<i 
the old orders, and my district still remained as under 
my former orders. 

Early in March, 1779, the Tories broke out with great 
fury at a place called the Haw Fields, whither this a])pli 

moved to New Bruuswick and was there a member of the local Lefjisiature. 
In 1799 he moved to Nova Scotia, where he was Colonel of the militia. Ho 
died at Digby, Nova Scotia, in the year 1825. 

Fanning was a man of ability and the local leader of the Torifs in the 
Carolinas. He was the man on whom the King's forces always relied and who 
never failed them. It was a distinct compliment to Captain Heiuy Con 
nelly that he was selected to fight Fanning and keep him down, and he s<>cnis 
to have been able to cope with the daring Tory leader. Fanning says many 
of his men were taken to Hillsboro and Salisbury and there hung by the 
"rebels" as he called the Revolutionary authorities. No doubt these |>ri8 
oners were taken there by Captain Connelly. 

Fanning wrote an account of his doings in Xorth Carolina, and the book 
waa published at Richmond, Virginia, for private distribution only, in 1S61 — 
"In the First Year of the independence of the Confederate States of Amer- 
ica." The edition was very limited, only fifty cojiiea of the (|uarto form 
being printed. And it is probable that these were the only cojiies j.rinted. 
The copy of Colonel James H. Wheeler, the historian of North Carolina, is 
now in my private library. It is one of the rarest and most valuable of all 
American books. The title of the work is as follows: 

"The Narrative of Colonel David Fanning, (A Tory in the Revolutionary 
War with Great Britain;) (Jiving an Acc<uint of his .Vdventures in North 
Carolina, From 1775 to 1783. As Written by Himself. With an Introduction 
and Explanatory Notes. Richmond, Va. I'rinted for Private Distribution 
Only. 1861. In the First Vear of the Iniiei)en(leni-e of fli.' ("onfod.'mte 
States of .\ni(>rica. ' ' 



112 THE CONNELLY FAMILY 

cant and his company repaired and dislodged them with 
the assistance of Colonel Lyttle from Rowan, who com- 
manded a regiment of militia. During this year the Tories 
were fast accumulating in Rowau, and this applicant's 
Horse Company was almost withdrawn from Guilford to 
that section of North Carolina. The Whigs this year took 
a great many Tories, who were all put in jail and confined 
at Hillsboro and Salisbury. 

In the month of November, 1779, orders were received 
by Colonel Paisley from Colonel Davie, the commanding 
Colonel, to rendezvous at Salisbury to start to the South 
to join General Lincoln at Savannah, but about this time 
news arrived that General Lincoln was overtaken at 
Charlestown, and all were taken prisoners. General 
Davidson now raised several hundred men, and Colonel 
Smnner and Colonel Brevard had several skirmishes with 
the Loyalists, in which this applicant and his company 
actively participated at Colson's Mills. About this time 
at a place in the western part of the state (N. C.) the 
Tories had collected to a great number and we marched 
against them and [met them] at Colson's Mills. This 
was in the Month of May, 1780, as well as this applicant 
recollects. He recollects well that it was just before or 
about the time of Gates' defeat at Camden. During this 
winter and the fall this applicant's company abandoned 
his district of " protection " and under Colonel Davie and 
(ieneral Davidson opposed the passage of Lord Corn- 
wallis through North Carolina. At the time of the ap- 
proach of Cornwallis to Charlotte, under Colonel Davie 
the troops posted themselves to meet the enemy. On 
the enemy's api)roach the companies commanded by this 
a])plicant received the first onset from Tarleton's cavalry, 
and the firing became general on the left wing. The troops 
were conmianded by Colonel Davie in person, and for three 
times we succeeded in rejnilsing the enemy. At length we 



THE CONNELLY FAMILY ll.j 

had to yield to superior numbers. In tliis battle we liad 
many men killed, several from under this applicant. 

In December, just before Christmas, General Nathaniel 
Greene, from the North, took command of us all. This 
was in 1780. We all, by his proclamation and the orders 
of our Governor, were placed under his command, and 
assembled at Charlotte. From there this applicant was 
placed under Colonel Washington and marched to South 
Carolina, to Augusta and Ninety Six. After marching 
in a southern direction for several days news came that 
Tarleton was after us. We were all now under General 
Morgan, and a terrible conflict ensued at the Cowpens 
between Tarleton 's men and the army under General 
Morgan. Here the Americans were victorious and took 
a great many militaiy stores, cannons, baggage, and six 
or seven hundred British and Tory prisoners. This was 
in January, 1781. It was cold weather, but inclined to be 
raining during this battle. The company which belonged 
to this applicant was placed under a Colonel Howard, on 
the extreme right of the Division, and this ap])licant com- 
manded a company in the center. Our com])any, when 
just about to catch up our horses, was hid about four hun- 
dred paces in the rear of the line of battle. [The enemy] 
fell upon us with great fury, but we were fortunately re- 
lieved by Washington's Legion that hastened to our as- 
sistance. 

After this engagement we all formed a junction with 
General Greene, and retreated with him to Dan [River], 
and crossed over into Virginia, and remaining there but 
a short period, marched back to Guilford Court House, 
and this applicant actively participated in this memorable 
battle, and he had the mortification to see his men in a 
panic fly at the approach of the enemy; and although this 
applicant endeavored to rally them, it was im})ossil)U'. and 
many even retreated to their homes. But this a])plicant 



114 THE CONNELLY FAMILY 

remained and continued to fight until the Americans were 
thrown into disorder and confusion and defeated. 

At this time, or a few days afterwards, this applicant 
being unwell, and his company broken, obtained a respite 
for awhile, which was granted him [by the Governor]. 
He remained at home and did not go with General Greene 
to Ninety Six. During this summer he did all he could 
to get his company to assemble. Their cry was ' ' no pay ' ' 
and their families required them at home. He then went 
from Guilford over to Virginia, and in September, 1781, 
he raised a small volunteer company for three months, to 
join General Washington at Little York [ Yorktown] . Lit- 
tle York was, however, taken before this applicant ar- 
rived. He knew a great many Continental officers and 
Regiments, and Militia officers, during his service. In 
the month of October the term of service of the Company 
from Montogmery County, Virginia, just mentioned, ex- 
piring, he gave them their discharges, and he himself re- 
turned to North Carolina, where he received the thanks of 
the Governor and a Certificate stating his services. 

This applicant knew General Smallwood, General Dav- 
idson, General Rutherford, General Pickens, General 
Sumner, General Otho Williams, Colonel Cleveland, Col- 
onel Lyttle, Colonel William Washington, Colonel Mal- 
mody ( f ), Colonel Lee (from Virginia), General Goodwin, 
Colonel Howard who commanded the Third Maryland 
Regiment, Captain Holgin, Colonel Paiseley, John Wil- 
liams, the Baron DeKalb, Colonel Brevard, and many 
other Continental and Militia officers that he has now 
forgotten. 

He has now no documentary evidence in his favor, hav- 
ing forwarded his commission about six years ago by 
General Alexander Lackey to the War Department. It 
lias never been returned to this applicant. He received 
a letter from the Secretary of War informing him that 
as he was not a regular he could not be allowed his [pen- 



THE CONNELLY FAMILY 115 

sion]. His commission was from the Governor of North 
Carolina. He has made search and inquiry for it for 
some time, and he believes the same is now lost or mislaid. 

He refers the War Department to Henry B. Mayo, Esq., 
the Hon. David K. Harris, to Colonel Francis A. Brown, 
to Colonel John Van Hoose, the Rev*^ Henry Dixon, the 
ReV^ Cuthbert Stone, the ReV* Samuel Hanna, the Rov** 
Ezekiel Stone, and Rev<^ Wallace Bailey, to Andrew Rule, 
Esq., to John Rice, to Jacob Mayo, Esq., Clerk of the 
Floyd County and Circuit Courts. These can testify to 
his character for veracity and their belief of this apj)!!- 
cant's services as a soldier and officer of the Revolution. 

Sworn to and subscribed the day and year aforesaid. 
(Signed) Henry Connelly [Seal! 
Att: J. Davis. 

We, Wallace Bailey, a Clergyman, residing in the Coun 
ty of Floyd and State of Kentucky, and John Rice, resid- 
ing in the same, towit, Floyd County, Kentuck}", hereby 
certify that they are well acquainted with Henry Connelly, 
who has subscribed and sworn to the above declaration, 
that we believe him to be eighty-one years of age, that he 
is reputed and believed in the neighborhood where he 
resides to have been a soldier of the Revolution, and that 
we concur in that opinion. 

Sworn to and subscribed the day and year aforesaid. 
(Signed) Wallis Bailey [Seall 

John Rice [Seal] 

And I do hereby declare my opinion after the investiga- 
tion of the matter, and after putting the interrogatories 
prescribed by the War Department, that the above named 
applicant was a Revolutionary soldier (an officer) and 
served as he states. And I further certify that it appears 
to me that Wallis Bailey who has signed the pret'oding 
certificate is a Clergyman resident in the County of Floyd 



116 THE CONNELLY FAMILY 

and State of Kentucky, and that John Rice, who has also 
signed the same, is a resident of the County of Floyd and 
State of Kentucky, and are credible persons, and that their 
statement is entitled to credit, and I do further certify 
that the applicant cannot, from bodily infirmity, attend 
court. 

(Signed) James Davis, J. P. F. Co. [Seal] 

INTERROGATORIES 

Where and what year were you bornf 

Ans. I was born in Pennsylvania, Chester County, on 
the 2d day of May, 1751. 

Have you any record of your age, and if so, where is it ? 

Ans. I have it in my Bible, recorded there by my 
father (in Dutch), I have it now at my house. 

Where were you living when called into service, where 
have you lived since the Revolutionary War, and where 
do you now live? 

Ans. I was living in Guilford County, North Carolina, 
where I had lived since my father moved from Chester 
[County] Pennsylvania, up to the Revolution. I have 
lived three years in the County of Montgomery, in the 
State of Virginia, and the residue of the time I have lived 
in this County - where I now live. 

How were you called into service. Were you drafted, 
did you volunteer, or were you a substitute, and if a substi- 
tute, for whom? 

Ans. I was a volunteer, under the Government of 
North Carolina, by an invitation from the Governor, and 
[my command] were called State troops or Militia. A 
part of the men under my command were drafted men for 
eighteen months. A small portion was for six months, 
and about forty were volunteers for and during the War. 
T WHS called into sei-vice by a recruiting officer by the name 
of llolgin, I think a regular officer. I made up my com- 



THE CONNELLY FAMILY 117 

pany and reported to the Colonel and went forthwith 
into active service. 

State the names of some of the regular officers who were 
with the troops when you served, such Continental and 
Militia Regiments as you can recollect, and the general 
circumstances of your service. 

Ans. I knew General Greene. I have seen General 
Gates at Hillsboro. [I knew] General Smallwood, 
General Davidson, General Pickens, General Sumner, 
General Otho Williams, Colonel Billy Washington, Col- 
onel Lee, Colonel Howard, the Baron DeKalb. 1 have 
seen, in 1780, Captain Holgin, Colonel John Williams, Col- 
onel Nat Williams, who commanded the Ninth Regiment 
North Carolina Militia in 1778, Colonel Paiseley, Colonel 
Buncombe, Captain Charles Briant, Colonel Brevard, 
Major (often called Colonel) De Malmody, and old Col- 
onel Cleveland, Lieut. Joseph Lewis, Major Charles An- 
derson, William Boma, Ensign. 

I was directed by Governor Burke and Colonel Davie to 
keep down Fanning in Guilford and Rowan. This this 
applicant did with one hundred men, a horse company. 
He served in 1777 in tliis capacity, likewise in 1778, and 
until the fall of 1779. He then joined General Davidson 
and was with him at the battle of Col son's Mills, where 
he got wounded. This was in May or June, 1780. He 
was at the battle of Hillsboro, and had nineteen of his 
horsemen killed on the field, and seven died the next day 
of their wounds. I was in the battle of the Cowpens, 
under Colonel Washington, in January, 1781, and Tarle- 
ton was defeated and we took his baggage and several 
hundred prisoners. I retreated with my horse company 
with General Greene to Dan [River | went over into Vir- 
ginia, and remained with the ai-my until the battle of 
Guilford [Court House]. T was in that battle, and my 
men all broke very near at first charge, in a ])aiiic, and 
fled, and many went even home. When my roll was called 



118 THE CONNELLY FAMILY 

at the Iron Works I had but a few men left. I was then 
taken in a few days afterwards sick, and was permitted 
for my health to retire for awhile from the service. This 
was in April, 1781. General Greene went to South Caro- 
lina, and I went over into Montgomery County, Virginia, 
to see my relatives, and I here raised a three months vol- 
unteer company to march to Little York. I marched 
them on to the Big Lick, in Botetourt County, in Septem- 
ber, and waited for orders, but before I received them it 
was too late, and I gave my men their discharges. We 
all went home. 

Did you ever receive a Commission, and if so, by whom 
was it signed, and what has become of it? 

Ans. I did receive a Captain's Commission from Gov- 
ernor Burke of North Carolina. It was, I believe, signed 
by him. I gave it about six years ago to General Lackey, 
who says he sent it on to the War Department, he thinks. 
I have made search and cannot find it. It was never re- 
turned to me. 

State the names of persons to whom you are known in 
your present neighborhood and who can testify as to your 
character for veracity, and their belief of your services as 
a soldier (and officer) of the Revolution. 

Ans. I refer to General Lackey, to Colonel Brown, Col- 
onel T. W. Graham, to Austin Litteral, to Jacob Mayo, 
Esq., to Andrew Rule, to the Rev"^ Ezekiel Stone, to Rev"* 
Wallis Bailey. 

Sworn to before me. 

(Signed) James Davis, J. P. F. C. [Seal] 

AFFIDAVITS 
State of Kentucky 



Floyd County '^ 

Personally appeared before the undersigned, one of the 
Conimonwealth's Justices of the Peace, Phillip William- 



THE CONNELLY FAMILY 119 

son, Senior, of the County of Lawrence, Kentucky, and 
naade oath that he is eighty-four years of age, that prev- 
ious to the commencement of the American Revolution he 
resided in Wake County, North Carolina, that he shortly 
after the commencement of the Revolution moved to Guil- 
ford County, and afterwards to Rowan County, that in the 
year 1777, in the fall season thereof, Captain Heniy Con- 
nelly, now of this County, Floyd, was constituted and 
commissioned a Captain in the North Carolina Cavalrj'. 
I was then well acquainted with him, and he was appointed 
to keep down one Fanning. I was frequently with him 
in the next year in Rowan. This was in the summer of 
1778. He then commanded the company of Cavalry afore- 
said. I recollect to have seen him several times in Hills- 
boro where the prisoners were kept. And I also recollect 
him and his company was in the service during the year 
following, in 1779, for I well remember several Tories 
his company brought in. In the month of February, 1780, 
I left Rowan, and came over to Washington County, in 
the State of Virginia. I remained there till May, and I 
went back to North Carolina. Captain Connelly was then 
out with his horse company under General Davidson 
against the Tories. I do not now remember that I saw 
him any more for some time. I, about this time, enlisted 
in the service as a '^ Three Months "man, and joined Gen- 
eral Greene. When we were retreating I again saw Capt. 
Connelly commanding his company in the service as a 
Captain. The Infantry was compelled to assist the Cav- 
alry over the streams. He was in the battle of Guilford. 
I recollect that I saw him a day or two afterwards in the 
army. I have known him for a long time since the Revolu- 
tion. Captain Connelly was a Ca])tain of the troops 
raised by North Carolina (not Continental). And further 
this deponent saith not. 

(Signed) Philli]) Williamson |Seall 

[Signed by mark] 



120 THE CONNELLY FAMILY 

Sworn to and executed before Francis A. Brown, Justice 
of the Peace of Floyd County, October 2d, 1833. 



ss 



Floyd County Court 
August, 1833 

On this 24th day of August, 1833, personally appeared 
before me, the undersigned, one of the Commonwealth's 
Justices of the Peace for Floyd County, Jonathan Pytts, 
an aged man, and now on the Pension Agency of Ken- 
tucky, and made the following statement on oath relative 
to the service of Captain Henry Connelly, who was an 
officer in the Eevolutionary War. This affiant states that 
he resided in Rowan County, North Carolina, long before 
the War, and that during the year 1777 Captain Henry 
Connelly, who was a Captain of a horse company from 
Guilford arrived in the neighborhood of the uncle of this 
affiant, with whom this affiant then resided. His business, 
as he told us, was to assist us in keeping the Tories down. 
A great many Scotch Tories had accumulated under Fan- 
ning, and many about the Haw Fields, and a place called 
Cross Creek. He was, off and on, during that year, in 
Rowan. I saw him several times in Salisbury in that 
year. In the year 1778 he and his company still were in 
Rowan. He knew him very well in the year 1779, for he 
was, according to this affiant's recollection, all the year in 
Rowan until Colonel William Davidson came back from 
General Washington's army and raised men to go and 
help General Lincoln at Charleston, South Carolina. This 
affiant saw Captain Connelly frequentlj^ with his horse 
company in Rowan. And the next year, or the year after, 
this affiant again saw him and his company just before 
General Greene got to Dan, He was along with the army. 
This affiant does not know whether Captain Connelly was 
in the ])atth' of Guilford or not, for this affiant had been 
sent on an express to Burke (now called Burke). He 
does not know liow long Ca])tain Connelly enlisted for. 



THE CONNELLY FAMILY 121 

He belonged to the North Carolina Cavalry, and how long 
he served this affiant does not know precisely. He does 
not know who was Captain Connelly's Colonel; if he ever 
knew he has entirely forgotten. The impression of this 
affiant is that Captain Connelly's horse com])any consisted 
of one hundred men, but he does not pretend to certainty 
about this fact. And further this deponent saith not. 
(Signed) Jonathan Pytts [Seal] 
[Signed by mark] 
Subscribed and sworn to before Stephen Hamilton, Jus- 
tice of the Peace, Floyd County, Kentucky, August 24, 
1833. 

Commonwealth of Kentucky ) ^^ 
Floyd County, to-wit ) 

On this [10th] day of October, 1833, personally ap- 
peared before me, the undersigned, one of the Common- 
wealth's Justices of the Peace, Benedict Wadkins, aged 
seventy-four years, who being duly sworn on the holy 
Evangelists, [deposes and says] that he was a resident of 
the State of North Carolina, Rowan County, during the 
Revolution ; that in the year 1777, and 1778, he knew there 
Captain Connelly, who then commanded as a Captain in 
the North Carolina Cavalry; and I saw him in Salisbury 
also in the summer of 1779. He was still commanding 
his horse company in the service of the United States as a 
Captain. Captain Connelly then, I think, lived in Guil- 
ford [County] . When the army was under General (xreene 
I saw him with the amy once at Hillsboro ; and he was with 
the army in the retreat from Comwallis. The ast tiine T 
remember to have seen him was after the battle of (mil- 
ford-the next day. He was then a Captain as he ..is m 
1777 and 1778 and 1779. I cannot state lunv long Cai.tain 
Connellv served, but I know he was comnussionod as a 
Captain of Cavalry and served in that capacity for .e - 
eral years. When I came to Saiuly [the I^.g Sand> \ al- 



122 THE CONNELLY FAMILY 

ley] many years since, I found Captain Connelly here. 
Since then I have known him well. I recollect to have 
heard it asserted that he was at the Cowpens when Tarle- 
ton got defeated, but as I was not there, cannot testify 
to that fact. The Tories were very bad in the western 
part of the State, and Captain Connelly was appointed to 
assist and keep them down. I distinctly remember that 
he commanded one hundred men and they were all chiefly 
Dutch soldiers. And further this deponent saith not. 
(Signed) Benedict Wadkins [Seal] 
[Signed by mark] 
Subscribed and sworn to before Stephen Hamilton, Jus- 
tice of the Peace, Floyd County, Kentucky, October 10, 
1833. 

[State of Kentucky ) 
Floyd County] ) ^^ 

The deposition of William Haney, aged seventy-five 
years, that in 1781 he became acquainted with Captain 
Henry Connelly of the North Carolina Light Horse. He 
was then commanding as a Captain in the North Carolina 
troops. When General Greene's army retreated into Vir- 
ginia I remember that he was with the army. He was in 
the battle of Guilford, I well remember. I have known 
him many years since the Revolution, and I know him well 
to be the same man. 

Given under my hand this 9th day of October, 1833. 
(Signed) William Haney 

Sworn to before Shadrach Preston, Justice of the Peace, 
Floyd County, October 9th, 1833, and the Justice certifies 
that Haney was a credible witness, as had all justices with 
the other affiants. 



Kentucky, to wit. 

The statement of Mesias Hall, aged sixty-five years, who 
upon his oatli, states that he is a native of the State of 



THE CONNELLY FAMILY 123 

North Carolina, Wilkes County. That he recollects many 
of the events at the close of the Revolution. That he 
lived and was raised a near neighbor to CapUiin Henry 
Connelly, Sr. That he always understood from all per- 
sons that he served in the North Carolina State troops 
in that capacity in which he has stated. That he never 
was doubted by any person. He thinks one of his broth- 
ers-in-law served under him in the Revolution, who is long 
since dead. 

(Signed) Mesias Hall 

[Signed by mark] 
Subscribed and sworn to before John Friend, Justice 
of the Peace, Floyd County, Kentucky, who certifies that 
Hall was a credible witness. No date. 



The attorney who made out the papers of Captain Con- 
nelly was Henry C. Harris, of Prestonsburg. He was 
attorney for the family for a generation. In a letter, in 
the files relating to the pension of Captain Connelly there 
is a letter written by Mr. Harris, in which he says : 

''The old man is a Dutchman, and when I made out his 
statement I could scarcely understand everything he 
said." 

His claim was allowed and he was placed on the Pen- 
sion Roll of the Soldiers of the Revolution at one hundred 
and fifty dollars per annum, beginning 4th March, 183L 

After his death his widow. Temperance Connelly, was 
granted a pension, and in consideration of the inadequate 
allowance to Captain Connelly, she was paid six hundred 
dollars per annum. In making this allowance to the 
widow of Captain Connelly a copy of his declaration for 
pension was sent to the Comptroller's office of North 
Carolina for verification. Concerning his sei-vico, the 
Comptroller wrote the Commissioner of Pensions the 
following 



124 THE CONNELLY FAMILY 

LETTER 

Raleigh, North Carolina. 
Comptroller's Office 
November 10th, 1851. 

Sir: 

I have attentively examined the records of this office 
for evidence respecting the Revolutionary services of 
Captain Henry Connelly, and I regret to say, unsuccess- 
fully. A portion of the records are undoubtedly lost. The 
Capitol was burned about twenty years ago and many 
of the papers of this office destroyed. 

In addition to this, I find a remark in the Journal of the 
Commissioners on behalf of this State to state the account 
of North Carolina against the United States, that Col. 
(afterwards General) W. R. Davie neglected to make a 
return of the Cavalry forces of this State under his com- 
mand, and expressing strongly the difficulty which they 
experienced in making out the accounts of the dragoons. 

The abstract of the Declaration which you sent to me 
contains the best history of the Revolutionary struggle 
from 1777 to 1781, in the Middle Counties of North Caro- 
lina which I have ever seen. 

There are not five men in the State who could have 
written so concise and correct a histoiy. I could not have 
done it, and I have studied the subject for ten years and 
with unusual opportunities for inforaiation. The names 
of officers, places and dates are all correct. Where did 
he get them from ? For you must remember that the His- 
tory of the Revolutionai*y War in North Carolina has not 
been written, (except Colonel Wheeler's history, now in 
press). Is not the presumption, then, powerfully strong 
thai Ills statements relative to his services are also 
correct. 

T ho])e at some future time to write a historical Memoir 



THE CONNELLY FAMILY 125 

of the period embraced in tlie Declaration, and will keep 
your letter to refer to. 

Very Respectfully, 

Your obedient Sei*vant, 

Wm. J. Clarke, Comptr. 

The letter is now on file with the other papers, in the 
Bureau of Pensions, where I copied it. 

Captain Henry Connelly moved to Rowan County, Ken- 
tucky, about 1835, but returned to Johnson County in a 
short time. He died May 7, 1840, and is buried in what 
is known as the William Rice Graveyard, on Little Paint 
Creek, not far from the old Litteral farm, Johnson Coun- 
ty. The headstone at his grave is of sandstone, and it 
bears his name and date of birth ; also date of his death. 

Captain Henry Connelly was the founder of the Con- 
nelly family in Eastern Kentucky. No family ever had 
a more patriotic or honorable head. He was of strong 
mentality, as is shown by his remarkable pension Declar- 
ation, which he dictated at the age of eighty-one, and 
which is so highly praised by the high State official of 
North Carolina. It is said that he was a member of the 
Presbyterian Church, but that Church had no organiza- 
tion in Eastern Kentucky, and there he united with the 
Baptist Church. This was the Primitive Baptist Church, 
members of which were sometimes called the ''Hardshell " 
Baptists. About the year 1834 there occurred a split in 
this Church in Eastern Kentucky, and at the Low Gap 
Church, in what is now Magoffin County, on the Licking 
River, three or four miles below Salyers\dlle, Rev. Wall is 
Bailey led a secession which he named the United Baptists. 
Captain Connelly and his descendants followed Bailey, 
and most of them have been members of the United Bap- 
tist Church down to the present time. 



The children of Thomas Connelly (and Susan -loynes 
Connelly) were: 



126 THE CONNELLY FAMILY 

Frances, born in North Carolina, probably Wilkes Coun- 
ty, in 1800. She married Benjamin Salyer, who owned a 
large farm on Big Mudlick Creek, Johnson County, Ken- 
tucky, where the road leaves that stream to go to Flat Gap. 
There he and his wife died, and they are buried on the 
farm. He died of cancer on the lower lip. I have seen 
him often. His son, Hendrix, lived on the home farm ; he 
married Margaret Williams. One of the daughters mar- 
ried Joseph Stapleton, and another married Edward Sta- 
pleton, brothers. A daughter, Christiana, married John 
Williams, Esq., and their son, Powell Williams, is a prom- 
inent citizen of Johnson County. 

William, born in Wilkes County, North Carolina, in 
1803. Died there. 

Constantine, born in Wilkes County, North Carolina, 
in 1805. He married, in what is now Johnson County, 
Kentucky, Celia Fairchild, granddaughter of Abind Fair- 
child, the Revolutionary soldier later mentioned herein. 

Celia, born in Wilkes County, North Carolina, in 1806. 
She married Dr. Isaac Rice, son of Samuel Rice, the first 
settler on Little Mudlick Creek, Johnson County. She left 
a large family of children. After her death Dr. Rice mar- 
ried Malinda, widow of Britton Blair, and daughter of 
James Spradlin, the pioneer who settled at the mouth of 
the Twin Branches, and who was mentioned hereinbefore. 

John, bom probably in Wilkes County, North Carolina, 
in 1808. He married Margaret, daughter of Noble Blair. 
He lived on the Lick Fork of Jennie's Creek. He had a 
large family, one of whom is James Hayden Conley, of 
Johnson County, a man of culture and ability. 

Henry, born in the Indian Bottom, at the mouth of the 
Rockhouse Fork of the Kentucky River, in 1810. This 
point is now in Letcher County. He married, in what is 
now Johnson County, Rebecca, daughter of George Blair. 
He lived on a large farm on the Middle Fork of Jennie's 
Creek. He was my grandfather. 



THE CONNELLY FAMILY 127 

Thomas, born in what is now Johnson County, in 1812. 
He married a Miss Davis, sister to the first wife of Martin 
R. Rice, Esq., of Johnson County. He lived on Abbott's 
Creek, in Floyd County, where his descendants are yet to 
be found. 

Nancy, born in what is now Johnson County, in 1813. 
She married Asa Fairchild, son of the Revohitionar}' sol- 
dier to be later mentioned. They lived and died on a 
branch of the Main Fork of Jennie's Creek, the first con- 
siderable branch from the west side to flow in above the 
mouth of the Twin Branches. They left a large family, 
some of whom moved to Lebanon, Ohio. 

Susan, bom in what is now Johnson County, in 1815. 
She married John, the son of Noble Blair. He was a 
millwright and was a fine workman. He built a mill in 
the Middle Fork of Jennie's Creek, on his farm, to which 
I have often gone. They left a large family. 

THE FAIRCHILD FAMILY 

The Fairchild Family, of Eastern Kentuckj% was found- 
ed by Abind Fairchild, a Revolutionary soldier, born in 
Westmoreland County, Virginia, but from North Carolina 
to Kentucky. His service as a Revolutionary soldier was 
in North Carolina. In 1902 I made a copy of the papers 
in his pension case ; these papers are on file in the Bureau 
of Pensions, and are as follows : 

State of Kentucky ) 
County of Floyd ) ^^ 

On this 18th day of February, 1834, personally appeared 
in open court before the Justices of the Floyd County 
Court now sitting, Abind Fairchild, a resident of Ken- 
tucky, in the county of Floyd, aged seventy-one years, who 
being first duly sworn according to hiw, doth on liis oath 
make the following declaration in order to obtain the 



128 THE CONNELLY FAMILY 

benefit of the provision made by the act of Congress of the 
7th of June, 1832. 

That he entered the service of the United States under 
the following named officers and served as herein stated. 
He resided in Wilkes County, in the State of North Caro- 
lina, when he first entered the service as a drafted soldier 
on or about the 10th day of October, in the year 1778, in a 
company of North Carolina Militia of which John Bob- 
bins had been appointed Captain. He met his company at 
Wilkesborough, in Wilkes County, North Carolina, and 
Captain Bobbins not joining us, William Gillery, the 
Lieutenant of the company, took the command and com- 
manded the company throughout the whole tour. Wil- 
liam Sutton, the Ensign, acted as Lieutenant, and the 
Sergeant, whose name, to the best of his recollection, was 
James Lewis, acted as Ensign. 

From Wilkesborough we marched down to Salisbury, in 
Kowan County, North Carolina, where we lay three or 
four days, and then marched out to the town of Charlotte, 
in Mecklenberg County, where we did not halt, but march- 
ed directly on to Camden, in South Carolina, where we 
halted and staid about a week. From Camden we 
marched and crossed Santee River at Nelson's Ferry, at 
the mouth of Eutaw Spring Branch. At Nelson's Feny, 
where we lay one night only, we took the right-hand road 
and marched on to Dorchester and came near to Peros- 
burg, tlie headquarters of the North Carolina troops. The 
South Carolina troops were there when we arrived. We 
encamped about a half mile from the town where we re- 
mained about six weeks. Colonel John Brevard was the 
coiiimanding Colonel of the regiment to which his com- 
pany belonged. From the encampment near Perosburg, 
we marched up the Savannah Biver to the Three Sisters, 
whore we staid but a short time, when Captain Gillery 
and his company left the other troops and we marched 
<lown the river about three miles to a place called the 



THE CONNELLY FAMILY 12'J 

White House, where we went as garrison to guard a ferry 
on the Savannah River. But a few days after, his com- 
pany left the Three Sisters. General Lincoln having un- 
der his command about six thousand regulars (as he, this 
applicant, was informed) came on to the Three Sisters and 
remained there but a few days. During our stay at the 
White House, Colonel Syms having under his command 
about two hundred Light Horse troo])s, came there and 
encamped with us one night, and next morning left us. 
Every morning during our stay at the White House a 
Corporal and six men were sent to the ferry as sentinels 
where they remained until they were relieved by another 
Corporal and six men more. After remaining at the 
Wliite House, to the best of his recollection, about six 
weeks, his company was marched around a swamp called 
the Black Swamp, lying near the river, to a place called 
the Turkey Hill, where the company was discharged, on 
the 10th of April, 1779. His discharge was signed by 
Captain or Lieutenant William Gillery. 

From the 10th of April, 1779, to the 1st of June, 1780, 
he was out as a volunteer on short excursions, receiving 
orders from Colonel Benjamin Cleveland, in what direc- 
tion to proceed in pursuit of the Tories, and if the Tories 
should be too strong, to return and give information to 
the Colonel, so that he could go or send a force sufficient 
to take them. In these he was accompanied, generally, 
by ten, fifteen, or twenty men detached from the men 
under command of Colonel Cleveland. In excursions of 
this kind and sometimes in service under Colonel Cleve- 
land, with the other troops of the regiment, he was in ser- 
vice a few days over twelve months between the 10th of 
April, 1779, and the first of June, 1780, in the counties of 
Wilkes, Burke, and Rutherford, but mostly in Burke. 

In the last of June or first of July, 1780, lie went as a 
volunteer and joined Colonel Cleveland at Wilkesborough, 
in Wilkes County, North Carolina. H<' was i.lacrd in a 



130 THE CONNELLY FAMILY 

company by Colonel Cleveland, the names of none of the 
officers of which he can recollect. Colonel Cleveland had 
under his command about two hundred men. We marched 
on to Eamsour's about ten o'clock, A. M., the day of the 
month not recollected, but he thinks it was between the 
5th and 10th of July, 1780. When we arrived the battle 
between the Mecklenberg troops and the Tories was over, 
and the Tories had been defeated. He then understood 
that in this battle about one hundred Tories were slain 
and two hundred taken prisoners. From Eamsour's he 
returned home to his residence, in Wilkes County, having 
been in service about two weeks. 

He next went into the service as a volunteer in a com- 
pany of which William Jackson was Captain. The names 
of the other company officers he does not now recollect. 
Colonel Benjamin Cleveland was his commanding Colonel. 
He joined his company at Wilkesborough, in Wilkes 
County, on or about the 1st day of September, 1780. From 
Wilkesborough we marched on to Krider's Fort, in Burke 
County, North Carolina, where we remained two or three 
weeks, and then marched up and crossed the Catawba 
River at Greenleaf Ford, near Morgantown. From there 
we marched to the head of Cane Creek, a branch of Little 
Broad River. Between Greenleaf Ford and the head of 
Cane Creek we fell in with the Virginia troops under com- 
mand of Colonel Campbell. From here we marched to 
Colonel Walker's old place (then so called) on Little 
Broad River, and halted but a very short time, when 
Colonel Campbell, whose troops were all horsemen, and 
Colonel Cleveland, after raising all the horses he could, 
marched on with what mounted soldiers there were, and 
left the footmen, about one hundred in number, to follow 
on with all possible expedition. From Colonel Walker's 
old place, he, this applicant, marched on under command 
of Captain William Jackson, and crossed Broad River 
and wont down by Buck Creek and passed a place called 



THE CONNELLY FAMILY i:U 

the Cowpens. We then passed down Buck Creek some 
distance and left Buck Creek and crossed Broad River 
again at Cherokee Ford. We then niarclied on to King's 
Mountain - arrived the next day after the battle, a little 
after dark, at the encampment of the American forces, 
about two miles from the battle ground. Colonel Fergu- 
son, the commander of the British troops at King's Moun- 
tain, was killed and the troops under his command defeat- 
ed, and, to the best of his recollection, about — hundred 
of them taken prisoners. The battle was fought, to the 
best of his recollection, on the 4th or 5th of October, 1780. 

From King's Mountain we marched back to Colonel 
Walker's old place and then turned back towards King's 
Mountain again, to Vickerstaff [see Ki)i{j's Mountain and 
its Heroes, by Draper, page 328- W. E, C] where we re- 
mained about two days. Here ten of the Tory prisoners 
were sentenced to be hanged. Nine of them were ac- 
cordingly executed, and the other escaped. From Vicker- 
staff we again marched to Colonel Walker's old place. 
Here this applicant and six or seven other soldiers were 
left with directions from Colonel Cleveland to bring on a 
wagon which he had taken at the battle of King's Moun- 
tain, and the other troops marched on and left us. We 
went on towards Wilkes County, and on Cane Creek we 
met four or five men sent back to assist us with the wagon. 
We then went on to Wilkes County with the wagon, and 
he received a discharge signed by Captain Jackson for a 
three months' tour. The time when he received this dis- 
charge he does not recollect, but he is able to state posi- 
tively that he was in the service three months on this tour. 

He next went out as a volunteer under John Cleveland, 
a young man, the son of Colonel Cleveland, who command- 
ed as Captain. He met the company at Wilkcsborough 
on or about the 3rd of March, 1781, and we then marched 
down (there being about forty of us under Ca])tain Cleve- 
land) to the old Trading Fort on the Va<lkin K*iv«>r, in 



132 THE CONNELLY FAMILY 

Kowan, and returned from this expedition about the 25th 
of April, 1781, and received no written discharge, to the 
best of his recollection. 

He has no documentary evidence, and he knows of no 
person whose testimony he can procure who can testify 
as to his services. 

Sworn to and subscribed the day and year aforesaid. 
(Signed) Abind Fairchild. 

The Court then propounded to the said Abind Fairchild 
the following interrogatories, to wit : 

1. Where and in what year were you born? 

Ans. I was born in the year 1762 in the County of 
Westmoreland and State of Virginia. 

2. Have j^ou any record of your age, and if so, where is 
it? 

Ans. I have no record of my age. My father had a 
record of my age, but what has become of it since his death 
I do not know. 

3. Where were you living when called into service, 
where have you lived since the Revolutionary War, and 
where do you now live? 

Ans. I lived in Wilkes County, North Carolina, until 
about twenty-five years ago, when I removed to Floyd 
County, Kentucky, where I now reside. 

4. How were you called into service ; were you drafted, 
did you volunteer, or were you a substitute, and if a sub- 
stitute, for whom ? 

Ans. In my first tour of service I went as a drafted 
soldier, and in all my subsequent service, as a volunteer. 
I never was a substitute. 

5. State the names of some of the regular officers who 
were with the troops when you served such Continental 
and Militia regiments as you can recollect, and the general 
circumstances of your sei'vices. 

Ans. These are as fully set forth in the body of the 
declaration as I am able to do from my recollection. 



THE CONNELLY FAMILY r.i.i 

6. Did you ever receive a discharge from tlie service, 
and if so, by whom was it signed, and what has become of 
it? 

Ans. I never received but two discharges that I recol- 
lect of. The first was given by Captain William Gillery, 
and the last by Captain William Jackson, both of wliich 
were lost many years ago, but in what manner they were 
lost I do not know or recollect. 

7. State the names of persons to whom you are known 
in your present neighborhood, and who can testify as to 
your character for veracity and the belief of your services 
as a soldier of the Revolution. 

Ans. I will name the Rev*^ Ezekiel Stone and John 
Colvin. 

The affidavits of Ezekiel Stone and John Colvin are at- 
tached to the declaration, and the Court certifies that 
they are credible witnesses. The Court also certifies that 
Abind Fairchild is a reputable citizen and that it is believ- 
ed that he was in the Revolutionar\" War. 

The claim for pension was allowed, and his name was 
inscribed on the Roll of Kentucky at the rate of $40 per 
annum, to commence on the 4th day of March, 1831. Cer- 
tificate was issued the 27th day of March, 1834, and sent 
to Hon. Richard M. Johnson. 



Fairchild, the Revolutionary soldier, moved from Wilkes 
County, North Carolina, to what is now Jolmson County, 
Kentucky, in the year of 1808, and settled on Bii; Paint 
Creek. His home was near the Fish Trap Meeting 1 louse, 
a famous Baptist Church building some six miles from 
the town of Paintsville. I have not a list of the names of 
his children, but I know that many of his descendants live 
in Johnson, Floyd, Magoffin, and other counties of ?iastern 
Kentucky. One daughter married John Colvin. men- 
tioned in the pension ])apers. Two sons of John (\)lvin 
were in the Fourteenth Kentuckv Regiment, rnfantry. in 



134 THE CONNELLY FAMILY 

the Civil War - Jeliisa and Abind - in Company I. Abind 
was called ''Bide" Colvin. I knew them and saw them 
while their company was stationed at Salyersville. The 
Colvin Family, in Eastern Kentucky was founded by John 
Colvin, and it numbers many families now- the McDowells 
and others. These are all descended from Abind Fair- 
child. 

The eldest child of Abind Fairchild was Mary. She 
married George Blair, my great-grandfather, and they 
left a large family. 



THE BLAIR FAMILY 

There is no more honorable or distinguished family in 
America than the Blair Family. It was founded in Amer- 
ica by two brothers. Rev. Samuel Blair and Rev. John 
Blair. They were eminent Presbyterian ministers, and 
the founders of the Fagg's Manor school which was the 
beginning of Princeton University. Samuel was pastor 
of the Old South Church, Boston, for some years. 

Some of the distinguished descendants of these pioneer 
brothers are mentioned here: 

Montgomery Blair. 

Francis Preston Blair, Junior, the first Attorney-Gen- 
eral of New Mexico, Brigadier-General of Union troops 
in the Civil War, and United States Senator from Mis- 
souri ; his statue stands in the Hall of Fame, Washington, 
beside that of Benton. 

John I. Blair, the railroad builder and millionaire, of 
New Jersey. 

Henry W. Blair, late United States Senator from New 
Hampshire. In discussing the family and its descendants 
with me in May, 1910, he told me that his sister had spent 
much time studying the early history and origin of the 
Blair family. She found that a colony went from an 
ancient town in France called Belaire and settled in Scot- 



THE CONNELLY FAMILY 135 

land. The colonists were known there by the name of the 
town from which they had migrated ; they were absorbed 
by the Scotch and the name of their ancient habitat given 
them as a family name -^eZaire- and finally Blair. There 
are other origins of the family and name given, but this 
has historic support and also probability, and it nnist be 
admitted as the most reasonable. 

Descendants of these brothers settled in Southwestern 
Virginia, and from these descended James Blair, the first 
Attorney General of Kentucky, and whose son, Francis 
Preston Blair, Senior, was editor of the Washington Globe 
and political adviser of President Andrew Jackson. 
George Blair came of this family, and was born in Lee 
County, Virginia. He and his brother Noble moved to 
Kentucky when young men, settling in what is now John- 
son County. They lived for some time near the mouth 
of Big Mudlick Creek. Later, George Blair bought an 
extensive tract of land across Big Paint Creek from where 
Paintsville was afterwards built. He erected a largo 
hewn-log house on the bluff opposite where the water-mill 
was erected by John Stafford, at the mouth of the Black- 
berry Branch. This he sold to the Staffords, after which 
he and his brother Noble bought all of the Middle Fork 
of Jennie's Creek, George taking the upper portion of the 
creek. Near the head of this stream, about seven miles 
from Paintsville, he erected a large house of hewn logs, 
where he lived until too old to look after a home, when he 
went to live with his youngest child, Asa, in whose house 
he died, on the old John Rice farm, on the Main Branch 
of Jennie's Creek. I was present at his funeral. A year 
before his death I taught my first school in that district, 
and much of the time I boarded with my Uncle Asa, and 
talked much with Grandfather Blair. He was a strong 
character, rugged and independent. He was, in his young 
manhood, of immense strength, and he loved the rude 
sports of pioneer days and always particiapted in them. 



136 THE CONNELLY FAMILY 

His people had been Presbyterians, but no organization 
of that faith being found in Eastern Kentucky, he united 
with the Primitive Baptists, and he followed Rev. Wallis 
Bailey in the secession which resulted in the United Bap- 
tists of Eastern Kentucky. Though a strict member of 
the church and an honored one, he would sometimes drink 
enough whiskey to make him boastful and " funny, " which 
he always repented in great humiliation after the castiga- 
tion administered by his wife in the form of curtain lec- 
ture, and which, he has admitted to me, he dreaded more 
than any punishment that could have been inflicted on 
him. The children of George Blair and Mary Fairchild 
Blair were: 

1. John. Called, b}^ way of nickname "Goodwood." 
I do not now know whom he married. I have been at his 
house when he lived on the Louis Power Farm, at the ford 
of the Licking River, where he once rescued Mr. Power 
from a watery grave. 

2. Levi. Married a Miss Cantrell, whose family lived 
on the headwaters of Big Paint Creek, He was a shoe- 
maker, and lived all his later life at the head of a branch 
of Barnett's Creek. He had a large family. I have often 
seen him, having been at his house many times. He was 
a sharp trader in horses and cattle, very thrifty, and of 
keen wit. Of these traits in him I could repeat a number 
of stories. His wife was a hypochondriac. 

o. Britton. Married Malinda, daughter of James 
Spradlin, the pioneer who settled at the mouth of the Twin 
Branches. He owned a large farm opposite the house of 
his father-in-law, where he died and is buried. After 
his death his widow married Dr. Isaac Rice. I have often 
been at their house. Aunt Malinda was a good motherly 
woman when I knew her, and still retained traces of the 
great beauty for which she was noted in her younger days. 
Fiu'le Isaac was cross and disagreeable at home, being 
particularly aggressive and sometimes offensive in argu- 



THE CONNELLY FAMILY i:{7 

ment on religion. Aunt Malinda often requested iiu' to 
come and remain Sundays, so that Uncle Isaac would talk 
and argTie with me rather than with her, upon wliich occa- 
sions I was furnished with a surfeit of cake, pie, and fried 
cliicken as an inducement to come again. 

4. Washington, Called always "Watt." He mar- 
ried a daughter of James Spradlin, the pioneer, and lived 
on the headwaters of the Upper Twin Branch. 1 was 
often at his house, having been always veiy fond of him. 
He was a genius, intellectually the equal of any man I ever 
knew, barring none. He was a sort of rustic Samuel .John- 
son, whom, indeed, he resembled in appearance as well as 
in mental traits. He always ate with his hat on his head, 
presiding at the meals of the family much as a sovereign 
wearing his crown. He was brusque and contentious, of- 
ten abrupt and overbearing, imperious, but he had a kind 
heart, and he was very fond of children. He exacted im- 
plicit obedience of his children even after they were mar- 
ried and gone to themselves, saying that such was taught 
in the Bible. He was, indeed, a patriarch, surrounded by 
Ills large family of married children, all paying him a sort 
of homage. He was quaint and droll, and his conversa- 
tion was eloquent and as pleasing as any I ever heard, or 
saw in literature. I have sat for hours wrapped in a sort 
of enchantment by his fine discourses delivered always 
at his own fireside, for he never talked nnich in i)ubli(' 
His home was liis castle. 

5. James. I do not now recall whom he married. He 
moved to Minnesota when I was but a child, and fivuii 
thence he went to Washington Territory. 

6. Rebecca. Married Henry Connelly, my gran«l 
father. She was a woman of fine mental endowment, ver>' 
affectionate, thrifty, manufacturing in her home the finest 
cloth made in Eastern Kentucky; and in this art her 
daughters also excelled. I remember that she was greatly 
interested in the improvement of the breeds of cattle. 



138 THE CONNELLY FAMILY 

horses, hogs, and fowls. Of all these my grandfather 
had good specimens on his farm. She talked much, I re- 
call, of orchards and the cultivation of crops, especially 
of cotton and flax. Her flock of sheep was her pride. I 
remember how white and clean they always seemed to me, 
and how she went among them and was followed by them 
seemingly in love and affection. No man ever had a better 
ancestor, and I remember her with reverence. She died 
of tyiDhoid about the year 1861, and she is buried on the 
old homestead. 

7. William. Also married a daughter of James Sprad- 
lin, the pioneer. Her name was Sarah. He was a very 
intelligent man and a Baptist minister. He built a mill 
in the Licking River, just above the present town of Sal- 
yersville, where he lived until the State bought it and re- 
moved it under the impression that the stream could be 
made navigable. Then he settled at the mouth of the 
Rockhouse, in Johnson County, where he died. He was 
rather impulsive, and I could relate some amusing inci- 
dents this quality developed during the Civil War. Aunt 
Sally, so we called her, was an excellent woman, but of an 
excitable temperament. After her death he married 
Edith Montgomery. 

8. Noble. Married a Miss Stambaugh. Lived at the 
extreme head of the Middle Fork of Jennie's Creek. Left 
a large family. 

9. Clarinda. Married John Stambaugh, supposed in 
Johnson County to have been the most polite and well- 
bred man in the whole world. His wife's society became 
irksome to him, and he lived for a time openly with an- 
other woman, whom he believed more compatible and 
more ''polite." In his last sickness, however, her polite- 
ness did not prevent her forsaking him, when his wife 
sought him, took him home, and cared for him until his 
death. She never married again. They had one child, a 
son, Buchanan Stambaugh. 



THE CONNELLY FAMILY 139 

10. Mary. I can not now recall whom she married. 

11. Asa. Married Mahala, daughter of Josiah Sprad- 
lin, and granddaughter of James Spradlin, the pioneer. 
Two children, Alamander and Ellen. 



Henrj' Connelly and Eebecca Blair were married in 1830. 
They were given by her father a large farm on the head 
waters of the Middle Fork of Jennie's Creek. On this 
farm they lived until their deaths. They were members 
of the Baptist Church, United Baptists. Services were 
often held in their home, upon which occasions the whole 
countryside were invited to remain for dinner. I well 
remember these feasts, though I was often ke]it busy 
caring for the horses of the guests until I thought I should 
starve to death. My grandfather was a large man, but 
without any tendency to corpulency, and he was one of the 
strongest men in that country. I remember his feats of 
physical strength, perfonned in clearing lands, erecting 
houses, in conflict with the wild beasts of the forest. 1 le 
was also of fine mind, though this was of a practical turn, 
and he never cared much for books. He was a fine hunter, 
and a collection of his adventures would make an inter- 
esting volume. When he was but six years old he went 
into the woods a few rods from the house. There he saw 
a large bear seize his pet pig. He ran to the house and got 
his father's rifle and hurried back, followed by his mother. 
But before she came up he had shot the bear through the 
head and saved his pet, which was dreadfully torn, but 
survived. On another occasion he went into the woods 
with his elder brother, Constantine, who, while l)usy about 
some matter, gave him the gim to hold. The elder liroth- 
er was startled to hear the report of the gun, and called 
out roughly to know what he was doing. '*I shot a wolf," 
said grandfather. And there was the wolf snarling and 
struggling in its death throes. He was but seven. It 
was necessary for the person who killed a wolf to appear 



140 THE CONNELLY FAMILY 

before the County Court to get the bounty paid for the 
scalp. This was the cause of his first visit to a town, he 
having to go with his father to Prestonsburg, where his 
appearance in Court caused so much wonder, when his 
business was known, that it was impressed vividly on his 
mind. On another occasion, when he was no more than 
seven, some young men were chasing a deer with hounds. 
He believed the deer would run through a field just below 
the house. He took his father's rifle and concealed him- 
self in a hollow stump in the field. Soon the deer came by, 
as he had judged, and he shot it dead, though it was run- 
ning at full speed. This was when his father lived at the 
mouth of Mill Creek. His good markmanship once caused 
him to receive a severe whipping from his mother. He 
made himself a pop-gun of the common elder. One of the 
family flock of sheep, which had been driven from North 
Carolina, was walking along one of the logs hauled in to be 
used in building the residence, eating the moss from its 
bark. He shot this sheep with his pop-gun. The "wad" 
struck the sheep just back of the "knuckle" of the front 
leg, where there is no wool. The sheep fell from the log 
as though dead, for the ball had struck just over the heart. 
But by the time he was soundly flogged, the sheep got to 
its feet and ran away. 

Henry Connelly was a good citizen, esteemed by all who 
knew him. I could relate an incident in his life which 
showed his good judgment, his justice, his humanity. It 
saved a man from a life of crime and made him an honest 
citizen, but as his children are yet living I will not write it. 

The children of Henry Connelly and his wife Rebecca 
Blair, were as follows: 

1. Constantine. My father. Bom December 5, 1831. 
Married Rebecca Jane McCarty. Lived on the Wolf Pen 
Branch of the Middle Fork of Jennie's Creek, where I was 
bom. Moved to Salyersville, Kentucky. 

2. Celia. Died unmarried. 



THE CONNELLY FAMILY 141 

3. Thomas. Married his cousin, Connelly. 

Died at the beginning of the Civil AVar, leaving one son. 

4. William. Born in 1835. Was in the Fourteenth 
Kentucky Cavalry, and died at Lexington, Kentucky, of 
typhoid while in the service. I remember that Grami 
father went there with a wagon drawn by oxen and brought 
the body home, stopping one night at our home in Salyers- 
ville, where the friends and companions of Uncle William 
gathered to mourn his death. He was umiiarrici], and liis 
genial nature, cordial manner, bright conversation, love 
of manly athletics, made him a favorite over a wide range 
of country. In youth he met with an accident, cutting olT 
the fingers of his left hand while making a wedge to split 
timber. 

5. Mahala. Born in 1837. Married William, son oi' 
Josiah Spradlin, hereinbefore mentioned. They had two 
children, Clarinda and Mantford. After the death of her 
first husband she manied Nathaniel Picklesimer. Xo 
children by second marriage. 

6. Clarinda. Born in 1839. Married Jeremiah Hack- 
worth, a soldier in the Fourteenth Kentucky Infantry. 
Lived on the headwaters of Middle Creek. Left a large 
family. 

7. Mary. Born in 1841. Married Farmer May. but 
died shortly after marriage. 

8. Lucina. Born in 1843. Married May. 

9. John. Born in 1845. Married Matilda, daughter 
of Morgan Long, of North Carolina, who live<l a short time 
in Paintsville after the Civil War. He was the largest 
man in Johnson County, but not in the least corjiulent. 
He was above six feet, probably six feet four, broad shoul- 
ders, and of fine foim. He was a man of immense 
strength. Lives now in Paintsville. 

10. Amanda. Born in 1849. Married May. 

11. Catherine. Born in 185L Married Andrew .1.. 
son of Martin R. Rice. 



142 THE CONNELLY FAMILY 

12. Cynthia. Born in 1855. Married Lewis F. Cau- 
dill. He was a Baptist minister. Both still living. Have 
a large family. 



THE BURKE FAMILY 

The Burke Family is of Norman origin, and with the 
Butlers and Fitzgeralds, is ranked with the most distin- 
guished of the Norman-Irish. The ancestor of the Irish 
Burkes was William Fitz-Adelm de Burgo, who accom- 
panied King Henry the Second to Ireland as his steward, 
in 1171. The family was related by blood to that of Wil- 
liam the Conqueror. Two of them, Robert de Burgo and 
William, his half-brother, were with him at the invasion 
of England, and the former was afterwards created Earl 
of Cornwall. In the reign of King John the Burkes ob- 
tained large possessions in Connaught through the rivalry 
and quarrels of the 'Connors. Becoming powerful, they 
subsequently renounced their allegiance to the kings of 
England, and adopted the Irish language, dress, and cus- 
toms, and compelled all the other familie'fe of Norman 
origin in Connaught to do likewise.- Genealogy of Irish 
Families, by James Rooney, page 458. 

William Burke was a private in the famous Cavaliy 
command of Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Lee, of Virginia, 
in the Revolutionary War. This was the famous Light 
Horse Troop of ''Light Horse Harry." In our family 
there are many traditions of his adventures, his prowess, 
his hair-breadth escapes. Once he was captured and con- 
demned to death as a spy, but was saved by being allowed 
to escape in the night before he was to be executed by a 
brother Freemason, the acquaintance of whom he had in 
some way made, and who was his guard. 

After the war he came to what is now Scott County, 
Virginia, where he died about the year 1795. Among his 
children was a son, John, who migrated to Kentucky with 



THE CONNELLY FAMILY 143 

a colony of Methodists led by Rev. Alexis Howes, founder 
of the Howes Family in Eastern Kentucky. John Burke 
had a daughter, Lydia, born in Scott County, Viri^nnia. 
I have mislaid the date of her birth. John Burke settled 
on the Rockhouse Fork of Big Paint Creek, where he 
bought a large farm. He was a cedar-cooper, and famous 
for the fine wares he made -pails, churns, piggins, and 
other vessels. I have seen him, but he was very old, as was 
his wife. They lived in a log cabin in the yard of the resi- 
dence of my Grandfather McCarty. They must have died 
in 1860. 



THE McCARTY FAmLY 

The MacCarthy, McCarty, or Carty Family is descended 
from Milesius, King of Spain, through the line of his son 
Heber. The founder of the family was Coi*mac, King of 
Munster, A. D. 483. The ancient name was Carthann, 
which signifies "Kindness." The chief of the sept was 
McCarthy More, Prince of Muskerry, King and Prince of 
Desmond, King of Cashel and ]\Iunster, The possessions 
of the family were located in the present counties of Cork, 
Limerick, and Clare. The sept comprised the families of 
the McCarthy More, McCarthy Raigh, 'Donovan, 
O'Keefe, O'Mahony, McAulifl:e', 'Cowley, 'Curry, 
'Collins, O'Dunnady, McCartney, McCurtin, McCutch- 
eon, McHngh, and O'Scanlon. The McCarthys took their 
name from Cartagh, King of Desmond, A. D. 1100. Un- 
der the Irish kings, and long after the advent of the Anglo- 
Norman invader, the McCarthy family maintained their 
princely \)vommence.- Genealogy of Irish Fajnilics, by 
John Rooney, page 74. 

Richard McCarty was born in Culpeper County, \'ir- 
ginia. He was a soldier under Braddock, and was at 
Braddock's defeat. His company was raised by one 
Slaughter, of Culpeper, and was under command of Gen- 



144 THE CONNELLY FAMILY 

eral Washington on the Braddock expedition. In the War 
of the Revolution Richard McCarty was Captain of the 
company from 1778 to 1781, when it was in the Virginia 
Line. He died of disease about the close of the Revolu- 
tion. (See Heitman's Register, Washington, 1893). His 
son Abner settled in Scott County, Virginia, and some of 
our family say Captain McCarty lived until about 1785, 
when he died in Scott County, but of this I have no proof. 
It is usually believed in the family that he died either in 
the war or soon after he returned to Culpeper County. 
Abner McCarty had a son Wiley, born in Scott County, 
whose son, John, came with a second colony of Methodists 
to what is now Johnson County, Kentucky. There he 
married Lydia, the daughter of John Burke, in 1836, and 
settled on a farm given him by his father-in-law, on the 
Rockhouse Pork. He lived there until his death, which 
was caused by inflammatory rheumatism about 1861. I re- 
member his funeral. My mother had taken me with her 
in her visit to him in his last illness. He was a small man, 
inclined to corpulency, with the Irish fondness for amuse- 
ment and merriment. He was noted for his sharp wit and 
fortunate speeches in repartee. He was a member of the 
Methodist Church founded by Rev. Alexis Howes, perhaps 
the first in Eastern Kentucky. 

The temperament, spirit, genius, of the Irish people were 
strongly preserved in the family of my mother. The love 
and reverence for the ancient traditions, stories, fairy 
tales, and lore through which fancy and the supernatural 
were interwoven were a passion with my Grandfather Mc- 
Carty, and all this, intensified and multiplied, was inherit- 
ed by my mother. Grandfather sang innumerable songs 
of Old Ireland, and his stories of the McCarty banshee 
charmed me and so frightened me when a child that I was 
in terror when put to bed at night. My mother sang many 
of tliese old folk-songs to her children. She died so young 
tliat 1 did not have opportunity to presence any of them, 




CONSTANTINE CoNLEY, Jr. 

Father of tlio Autlior 

[Photofiriij'h I'll Liitlii r. f.Diii.sn, Ky. 



THE CONNELLY FAMILY 145 

but the spirit and rhythm of them so took hold of me that 
I hear always the music of them. 

My Grandmother McCarty lived to a great age, dying 
a few years ago in Owsley County, Kentucky, but I have 
not the date of her birth or death. C^hildren : 

1. Rebecca Jane. Born January 14, 1S37. My motli- 
er. Married my father, Constantine Conley, Junior, in 
1854, in Johnson County. 

2. Mary A. Married Rev. Samuel K. Ramey, long 
Presiding Elder of the Middlesboro District. No cliil- 
dren. 

3. Martha. Married Franklin Centers, of Clay Coun- 
ty, Kentucky. They have a large family. 

4. John. Married Sarah, daughter of Burkett. 

Lives at Brazil, Indiana. Has two sons, Wiley and 
James. 

5. Abner. Was made deaf and a mute by scarlet 
fever when an infant. Never married. 

6. Wiley. Married Frances, daughter of Rev. Robert 
Calhoun, of the Methodist Church. Lives in Johnson 
County. 

7. Amanda. Married James Estep, and removed to 
Booneville, Owsley County, Kentucky. 

8. Angelina. Married Joseph Estep. They live in 
Booneville, also. 

A sister of my grandmother married Rev. William 
Green, a devout and eloquent minister of the Methodist 
Church in Johnson County, and who was bom in Scott 
County, Virginia. They left a large family, but I am not 
infoimed as to number and residence. 



CONSTANTINE CONLEY, JUNIOR 

Constantine Conley, Junior, son of Henry Connelly 
and Rebecca Blair, his wife, married, in Johnson County, 
Kentucky, Rebecca Jane McCarty, June 1), 1854. Tlie 



146 THE CONNELLY FAMILY 

marriage ceremony was performed by Rev. Alexis Howes, 
the venerable pioneer Methodist preacher of Eastern 
Kentucky. My father told me that when he offered to 
pay him a fee for performing the ceremony the old man 
said to him: "Young man, you could well afford to pay 
me a large sum, for I have united you in holy wedlock 
with one of the fairest daughters of the Church and one 
of the best girls that ever lived. I baptized her, an in- 
fant, and I have known her all her life. Her value is 
above that of rubies. I love her as my own daughter. 
Among the viands prepared by her own fair hands I will 
find a pie made for her wedding feast, and that is all the 
pay I desire or will have. ' ' This tribute I believe to have 
been deserved, and my father treasured it as long as he 
lived. 

My father was the firstborn, and his mother had train- 
ed him to aid her about the house when he was a small 
boy. He was a fine cook. In those days the farmhouse 
was a manufactory where the shoes for the family were 
made. Those were days of homespun, pioneer days, the 
heroic days in the life of any land. In them was laid 
well the foundation of our government, and he that would 
have inspiration must study to understand them. My 
father was taught to make the shoes of the family, and 
these were made from leather tanned on the farm. This 
became his occupation in after life, and this trade he 
taught to me. His father gave him a farm on the Wolf 
Pen Branch, a prong of the Middle Fork of Jennie 's Creek- 
a part of the old homestead. My mother was energetic 
and ambitious. When the County of Magoffin was formed 
and the county-seat fixed at Salyersville she desired to go 
there and see if opportunities could be found. They mov- 
ed there about 1858, and built the first hotel there. For 
many years it was known as the Hager House ; and it yet 
stands. Uncle William Blair sawed the lumber for it in 
his mill in the Licking River. 



THE CONNELLY FAMILY 147 

My father early enlisted in the Union army -in the 
Fourteenth Kentucky Regiment. But for some reason 
he was not mustered in that regiment. He enlisted in the 
Forty-fifth Regiment, Mounted lnfantr>-, and served to 
the end of the war. My mother died in Novemher, 1802. 
She is buried on the hill above where the mill of Uncle 
William Blair was, on a tract of land on which there was 
an old graveyard. My father married, for a second wife, 
Artemisia, eldest daughter of Caleb ^lay, but she lived 
but a few months. He then married Charlotte Picklesini- 
er, a niece of Louis Power, and a granddaughter of Wil 
liam Prater, one of the first settlers of that region. After 
the war he moved to Johnson County, where he lived until 
his death, in 1904. He died at East Point, and is buried 
there. Children : 

1. William Elsey. Born on the Wolf Pen Branch. 
Johnson County, Kentucky, March 15, 1855. The name 
** Elsey" was given me by my mother for an old Virginia 
family with whom her family was connected by blood, but 
in what degree I do not know. The Sweatnam and Lit- 
teral families of Eastern Kentucky are also connected 
with this old Virginia family. I remember many things 
which occurred at the home of my birth, one of which T 
will relate. There was some game then, and my father 
was an expert hunter. There was an immense turkey in 
the forest about our home that had often been shot at by 
the old hunters, but he was so wary that all the shots had 
to be from long distances, and he had always escaped. ()n«' 
evening, at dusk, my father came in from a hunt, and 1 
heard him tell my mother that the big turkey had just flown 
into the top of a large poplar that stood at the back of our 
fields, there to roost for the night. He said he would go 
out there at daylight and try to get a shot at him. I im- 
mediately set up an outcry to be taken along, which was 
finally, at my mother's solicitation, agreed to. I rcnicm 
ber that it was not light when we set out, but the distance 



148 THE CONNELLY FAMILY 

was not more than a quarter of a mile. I was left at the 
fence, beyond which there was a thicket in which the big 
poplar grew. I could see the turkey outlined against the 
sky, and he was stretching his neck downward as far as 
he could, apparently seeking a place to fly down to, for it 
was dark below. My father must have seen that the tur- 
key was intent on flying down, for he shot, as he said, 
before it was light enough to get a good "bead" on him. 
But it was a lucky shot, though one that came near miss- 
ing. The turkey's neck was shot in- two at the body. Here 
he came flopping down from the height of a hundred feet 
and fell in the thicket very near me. I remember with 
what pride my father carried him home and exhibited him 
to my mother. The parents of both my father and moth- 
er were invited to come to a dinner when he was roasted. 
I remember seeing my mother roasting the turkey in a 
large iron kettle used usually for laundry purposes. I 
am not sure I remember the weight of the turkey accur- 
ately, but thirty-nine pounds always seems to me to be 
the weight. While I have a perfect recollection of seeing 
the turkey cooked, I have none whatever of the dinner 
nor of either of my grandfathers or grandmothers, though 
I have been told all were present. 

2. Henry Clay Harris. Born October 18, 1856. 

3. Louisa Elizabeth. Born May 26, 1858. 

4. Martha Ellen. Born July 19, 1860. 

5. John Mason. Bom May 5, 1862. 

Children by Charlotte Picklesimer, the third wife : 

1. James Mason Brown. Born November 20, 1865. 
This is the date I have, but I am certain that it should be 
1866. 

2. Joseph Milton. Born April 28, 1868. 

3. Sarah. Born August 29, 1870. 

4. Mary. Born June 5, 1873. 

5. Susan. Born June 11, 1875. 



'^^^ 




THE CONNELLY FAMILY 149 

Having traced the family from the beginning to a point 
where all descendants can easily discern their particular 
branches and continue them, I cease at this point. Uur 
family, and all the families with which it has intermarried, 
are of the i:>ioneer stock of America. They are neither 
better nor worse than the other pioneer American fami- 
lies. Pride of ancestry is an inspiration, and we of the 
South have it in large degree. But it should not degen- 
erate into arrogance or intolerance. 



JOHN WESLEY LANGLEY 

John Wesley Langley was born near the close of the 
Civil War, in Floyd County, Kentucky. He is descended 
from the Langley Family of North Carolina and the Rob- 
inson Family of Virginia, both old Revolutionary families. 
On his mother's side he is descended from the Salmons 
and Click families of Virginia and Kentucky. His ma- 
ternal ancestor was Edith MacAlpine, who married Arch- 
ibald MacGregor, and, afterwards, Langley. Her 

daughter, Ann MacGregor, married Captain Henry Con- 
nelly. John W. Langley, therefore, is descended from the 
Clan MacAlpine, the first of the Scottish Highland clans. 
And he and all the Langleys of his family are cousins to 
the descendants of Captain Henry Connelly — making, 
perhaps, the largest blood-relationship in Eastern Ken- 
tucky. Through his mother's line he inherits a large 
element of German blood. 

Langley was educated in the common schools of Floyd 
County, and in the Georgetown, Columbian, and National 
Universities of Washington City, at which he attended at 
night while holding a government position. He won the 
first honors in all three of these Universities and took the 
degrees of A. B., LL. B., and LL. M., Doctor of Civil Law 
and Master of Diplomacy. He, therefore, has taken the 
highest working degrees conferred by any University in 
the country. His early education was secured with the 
usual difficulties encountered by a country boy in the 
mountains of Kentucky, and almost entirely through hia 
own unaided efforts. 

At the age of sixteen Langley was granted a teacher's 
certificate, receiving the highest rating in the county. He 




.loII.V WksI.I'.V LvNdl.KV 



THE CONNELLY FAMILY i:,l 

taught school for three years, and was then apj^ointed to a 
clerkship in Washington. Later, he returned to Ken- 
tucky and was twice elected to the Legishiture of that 
State, receiving at the beginning of his second term the 
caucus nomination of his party for S])eaker of the House, 
which made him the minority leader of that body. He 
afterwards was appointed a member of the Board of Pen- 
sion Appeals, having received the highest rating of all 
who took the examination for the position ; and the Secre- 
tary of the Interior, in one of his official reports, said that 
Langley stood at the head of the list for amount of work 
accomplished. 

After holding this position for some time Langley re- 
turned again to his native State and was the nominee of 
his party for Member of Congress. The district was over- 
whelmingly Democratic, and he was defeated. lie was 
then given the position of Appointment Clerk of the Cen- 
sus Office, and, later, the office of Disbursing Clerk was, by 
Act of Congress, combined with that of Appointment 
Clerk, and he held both positions until he was given his 
second nomination for Congress, in his home district, in 
1906. In this position he made an exceptional record, and 
his salary was twice increased by special Act of Congress. 
While his district had been Democratic by a good mar- 
gin, Langley was elected to Congress in 1906 by a majority 
of nearly one thousand. In Congress he at once took liigh 
rank, and his record was so satisfactory to the peo]ile that, 
two years later, he was re-elected by a majority of almost 
three thousand. He is at this time, 1910, the unanimous 
nominee of the Republican party in his district for -x tliird 
term in Congress. 

In Congress Langley has been particularly active in his 
efforts to secure additional pension legislation, appropria- 
tions for the erection of public buildings and the improve- 
ment of the Kentucky and Big Sandy rivers, and F'cderal 
aid in the construction of public highways. 



152 THE CONNELLY FAMILY 

Langley has been a delegate to two Republican National 
Conventions, and he was the first to propose Roosevelt 
for Vice-President on the floor of the convention at Phil- 
adelphia in 1900. He is forceful, tactful, energetic, of a 
pleasing personality, ambitious to accomplish things for 
his people and the country, of the highest integrity and 
sense of honor, and a man in whom the people repose the 
fullest measure of confidence. 





Milton hdKKKsT Conley 
pjditor and l^anker, Louisa, Ky. 



MILTON FORREST CONLF.Y 

Milton Forrest Conley (spelling of name changed from 
Connelly by his father) was born June 13, 18(18, at Louisa. 
Lawrence County, Kentucky, where he now lives, lie is 
a great-great grandson of Captain llenrj^ Connelly, of the 
Revolution, through the soldier's son Thomas and through 
Constantine, the eldest son of Thomas. 

Milton Forrest Conley is the eldest of three chihlreii 
(two sons and a daughter) of Asa Johnson Conley and 
Elizabeth Leslie Conley. The other son is Martin Leslie 
Conley, General Manager of the Ohio & Kentucky Rail- 
way Company and President of the Morgan County Na- 
tional Bank at Cannel City, Ky. 

Milton Forrest Conley was educated in the common 
schools, and in his sixteenth year established the Big 
Sandy News, a weekly newspaper since continuously pub- 
lished by him. It was the first weekly newspaper in Ken- 
tucky to install a linotype machine. During the years 
1901 and 1902 he was a one-half owner in the Ashland, 
(Ky.), Daily Independent, the Catlettsburg, (Ky.), Daily 
Press, and the Kentucky Democrat, dividing his time be- 
tween these and the Big Sandy News. He has ])een a 
member of the Kentucky Press Association for twenty- 
two years and an Executive Committeemman several 
terms; and he has attended the National Editorial Asso^ 
ciation four years as Delegate from Kentucky. In W.i 
he was appointed Postmaster at Louisa and served four 
years In 1904 the Louisa National Bank was organized 
with a capital of $50,000, and he was ofForod t^^^M;;;'^^ 
of Director and Cashier, which he accepted aiul st.l ho Ms. 
He is identified with other business enterprises m the Hig 



154 THE CONNELLY FAMILY 

Sandy Valley, and is one of the two Trustees of the Ken- 
tucky Normal College, at Louisa, which has four hundred 
boarding students and a like number of local students. 
He was married to Miss Willie Burgess in 1894, and of 
this union three children have been born. 



ANNOUNCEMENT 

This volume is the first of a series which 1 intend to 
publish on the history and genealogy- of Eastern Kentucky. 

Eastern Kentucky has a history as important and in- 
teresting as has any part of America, and it is my design 
to set it down faithfully in these volumes. 

As shown in this volume, the people of Eastern Ken- 
tucky are descended from the best families of Europe 
and America. The only trouble has been that they have 
not made any effort to collect and preserve family annals 
and traditions. To gather authentic information about 
the early history of a family is extremely expensive, and 
this has been the principal cause of delay in securing it by 
some families. 

I have extensive records of the Mayo, Leslie, Auxier, 
Hager, Meek, Cecil, Preston, Brown, Harris, Dixon, Wit- 
ten, Patrick, Prater, May, Stafford, Mankins, Porter, 
Hanna, Rice, Rule, Price, Caudill, Adams, Gardner, How- 
ard, Williams, Salyer, and many other pioneer famihes 
of Eastern Kentucky. I hope to treat these, or some of 
them, at least, even more extensively and thoroughly than 
I have the Connelly and other families in this volume. 

William Elsey Connelley 



INDEX 



INDEX 



Albemarle Point, Old: the Con- 
nellys first settled at, 95. 

Anderson, Major Charles: known to 
Captain Henry Connelly, 117. 

Argjilshire: former home of the 
MacGregors, 101. 

Armagh: County of in Ireland, the 
Connellys came from, 95. 

Backwoodsmen, the: character of; 
how they subdued the wilderness, 
21; their manner of life in their 
settlements, 22. 

Bailey, Rev. Wallis: referred to for 
character by Captain Henry Con- 
nelly; certificate of; certified to 
by clerk as a clergyman, 115; re- 
ferred to by Captain Connelly, 
118; formed United Baptist 
Church in Eastern Kentucky, 125. 

Balclutha : town at forks of Big 
Sandy River so named, 54. 

Balquhidder: burial place of the 
MacGregors at Church of, 101. 

Baptists: formation of the United 
from Primitive Baptists in East- 
em Kentucky. 125. 

Bear Branch: descended by Mrs. 
"Wiley in her escape, 72. 

Bear : pictured on an elm tree in 
Paintsville, 53. 

Bickley, : quotation from 

History of Tazewell Co., Va., writ- 
ten by, 31. 

Big Mudlick Creek, the: Indians de- 
scended, 50: painted rocks along, 
52. 

Big Paint Creek, the : description of ; 
painted trees along found by the 



first settlers, 52 ; mounds above 
mouth of, 54; Simon Kenton 
lived two winters at mouth of, 55; 
followed by Mrs. Wiley in her es 
cape, 72. 

Big Sandy River, the: veneration of 
the Indians for; Cherokees, Shaw- 
nees, Delawares, Toteros and Wy- 
andots roamed over, 52. 

Big Sandy Valley, The: by Dr. Wil- 
liam Ely, referred to, 81. 

Blair Family, the: in America; 
founded by Rev. Samuel Blair and 
Rev. John Blair; founded schools 
which became Princeton Univers- 
ity; distinguished men of; origin 
of name of, 134. 

Blairs, the: many of descended from 
Edith MacAlpine, 100. 

Blair, Alamander: son of Asa Blair, 
139. 

Blair, Asa: son of George Blair; 
author lived at house of; George 
Blair died at home of, 135 ; mar- 
ried whom; children of, 139. 

Blair, Britton: married Malinda 
Spradlin, 126; son of George 
Blair; death of, 136. 

Blair, Clarinda: daughter of George 
Blair; married whom, 138. 

Blair, Ellen: daughter of Asa Blair, 
139. 

Blair, Francis Preston, Sr. : frienti 
of Andrew Jackson; editor of the 
Washington Globe, 135. 

Blair, General Francis Preston, Jr.: 
distinguished member of the Blair 
Family, 134. 



160 



HARMAN'S STATION 



Blair, George: daughter of married 
Henry Connelly, 105, 126 ; married 
Mary Fairchild, 134; lived where 
in Johnson County; death of; 
character of, 135; Presbyterian, 
but united with Baptist Church ; 
wife of sometimes lectured; child- 
ren of, 136. 

Blair, Henry W. : former U. S. Sen- 
ator from New Hampshire; mem- 
ber of this Blair Family, 134. 

Blair, James: first Attorney-General 
of Kentucky, 135. 

Blair, James: son of George Blair, 
137. 

Blair, Rev. John: Presbyterian min- 
ister; founded Fagg's Manor 
School, the beginning of Prince- 
ton University, 134. 

Blair, John : son of Noble Blair ; 
married Susan Connelly ; was a 
millwright, 127. 

Blair, John: son of George Blair; 
some account of, 136. 

Blair, John I. : member of this Blair 
Family, 134. 

Blair, Levi: son of George Blair; 
lived where; traits of, 136. 

Blair, Malinda: widow of Britton 
Blair; married Dr. Isaac Rice; in- 
duced author to visit home and 
argue scripture with husband, 136. 

Blair, Margaret: married John Con 
nelly, 126. 

Blair, Mary: daughter of George 
Blair, 139. 

Blair, Noble: brother of George 
Blair; daughter of married John 
Connelly, 126; lived where, 135. 

Blair, Noble: son of George Blair; 
lived where, 138. 

Blair, Rebecca: daughter of George 
Blair, grandmother of the author; 
traits of; married Henry Connolly, 
137 ; some account of, 139. 

Blair, Rev. Samuel : Presbyterian 



minsiter; preached in Old South 

Church, Boston, 134. 
Blair, Washington: called "Watt" 

Blair; characteristics of; a genius, 

137. 
Blair, William : son of George Blair ; 

lived where; married whom; death 

of, 138; sawed the lumber for 

hotel, 146. 
Bluestone: headwaters of crossed by 

the Indians with Mrs. Wiley, 41. 
Boma, William, Ensign : known to 

Captain Henry Connelly, 117. 
Boone, Daniel: trip of to Big Sandy 

Valley, 55. 
Borders, John: soldier under Corn- 

wallis; surrendered at Yorktown; 

married daughter of Hezekiah Sel- 

lards; descendants of, 24; warned 

Mrs. Wiley that Indians were in 

the setlement, 36; urged Mrs. 

Wiley to go to his home, 37; 

alarmed the settlers, 63. 
Braddock's Defeat: mention of, 17. 
Brevard, Colonel Ephraim: had 

skirmishes with Loyalists, 112; 

known by Captain Henry Connelly, 

114, 117. 

Brevard, John: commanded regiment 

to which Abind Fairchild belonged, 

128. 
Briant, Captain Charles: known by 

Captain Henry Connelly, 117. 
Brown, Colonel Francis A.: referred 

to by Captain Henry Connelly, 

115, 118; Justice of the Peace, 
120. 

Brushy Mountain : Indians carried 
Mrs. Wiley across, 41. 

Buncombe. Colonel : known by 

Captain Henry Connelly, 117. 

Burgess, Miss Willie: married Milton 
Forrest Conley, 154. 

Burke Family: origin of; influential 
in Ireland; name of Norman an- 
cestor and founder of, 142. 



INDEX 



161 



Burke. Governor: eaptured by the 
famous Tory. Fanning, 110; di- 
rected Captain Henry Connelly to 
keep down Fanning, 117; commis- 
sioned Captain Connelly, 118. 

Burke. Jolni : came to Kentucky whh 
the Howes colony; some account 
of; children of, 143. 

Burke, Lydia: married .Tohn Mc- 
Carty, 14.3. 

Burke, William: in the Revolution 
under "Light Horse Harry" Lee; 
Descendants of, 142. 

Burkett, Sarah: married .John (son 
of John) McCarty, 145. 

Burris, Rev. M. T. : wrote for the 
author an account of the early set- 
tlement of the Big Sandy Valley. 
12; gave information Sellards fam- 
ily, 24; gave description of Mrs. 
Wiley, 25; wrote an account of 
battle with Indians at camp of the 
liunters, 30. 

Cabins: those built at the mouth of 
Big Paint Creek by the Frcndi 
and Indians, 55. 

Calhoun, Frances: married Wiley 
McCarty, 145. 

Camden. S. C. : company of Abiml 
Fairchild marched to, 128. 

Campbell, Colonel William: con- 
duct of in King's Mountain 
campaign, 130. 

Cane Creek: Abind Fairchild 's com- 
pany fell in with Virginia troops 
at on King's Mountain campaign, 
130. 

Captive, the: brought to Little Mud- 
lick Creek by the Cherokee Chief, 
15; torture of; name of not 
known; memory of lost; Mrs. Wi- 
ley certain of torture of, 60; ap- 
peared to Mrs. Wiley in her 
dream ; pointed out way to Har- 
nian "s Station, 70. 



Caudills, tliL': some of descended 
from Edith MacAlpine, 100. 

Centers, Franklin : married Martha 
McCarty, 145. 

Central Methodist, The: edited by 
Rev. Zephaniah Meek, 81. 

Charles Edward, the Pretender: 
cause of espoused by Archibald 
MacGregor, 102. 

Charleston, S. C. : the Connellys own- 
ed a part of the site of, 95. 

Charlotte, N. C. : troops marched to, 
128. 

Chaves, ,Tose: Dr. Henry Connelly 
married widow of, 98. 

Cherokees. the: sold to Henderson a 
shadowy claim to Kentucky, 17; 
many killed by Matthias Harman ; 
trails of, 27; some of in band 
that murdered family of Wiley, 
33; regarded the region about the 
mouth of Big Paint Creek with 
veneration, 52; told early settlers 
that mounds there had fire in them, 
54; pointed out towns of the To- 
teros, 55. 

Cherokee Ford: Broad River crossed 
at by troops on King's Mountain 
campaign, 131. 

Cherokee Fork: Indians with Mrs. 
Wiley camped on, 49. 

Cherokee Gap: Indians carried Mrs. 
Wiley through, 49. 

Cherokee Chief, the: leader of the 
band which attacked the hunters; 
son of killed by Matthias Har- 
man, 29; guide in Sandy Creek 
Voyage, 30; angered by death of 
son, 31; went to Walker's Creek 
to murder family of Harman, 32; 
account of given by Mrs. Wiley, 
34; planned the escape of the In- 
dians with Mrs. Wiley, 38; could 
apeak English imperfectly, 39; 
furnished food, 42; wished to kill 
^frs. Wiley's child, 43; killed the 
child, 46; separated from the 



162 



HARMAN'S STATION 



Shawnee party, 48 ; arrived at Lit- 
tle Mudlick Creek with the cap- 
tive; made Mrs. Wiley cook for 
him, 59; bought Mrs. Wiley, 61; 
characteristics of, 70 ; went to kill 
buffalo, 71 ; pursued by Mrs. Wi- 
ley; too late; his exclamation and 
disappearance, 75. 

Children of the Mist : were of the 
Clan MacGregor, 101. 

Clarke, William J. : Comptroller oi' 
North Carolina; said pension De- 
claration of Captain Henry Con- 
nelly was the best history of the 
Revolution in Middle Couuties of 
North Carolina ever written, 125. 

Cleveland, Colonel Benjamin: known 
by Captain Henry Connelly, 114. 
117; Abind Fairchild served un- 
der, 129 ; fought at Ramsour 's 
Mill, 130; commanded troops in 
King's Mountain campaign, 131. 

Cleveland, Captain John: son of 
Colonel Benjamin Cleveland, com- 
manded company of Abind Fair 
child, 131. 

Cole, Ben : sent out to hunt game. 
90. 

Colson's Mills: Captain Henry Con 
nelly wounded at battle of. 117. 

Colvin Family: founded by John 
Colvin; descended from Abind 
Fairchild, 134. 

Colvin, Abind: in Fourteenth Ken- 
tucky Infantry, 134. 

Colvin, Jehisa: in Fourteenth Ken- 
tucky Infantry, 134. 

Colvin, John: referred to by Abind 
Fairchild whose daughter he mar 
ried; sons of in Fourteenth Ken- 
tucky Infantry, 133; founder of 
Colvin Family, 134. 

Connelly Family, the: descended 
from Mih^sius, King of S])ain ; 
founded by Eogan, King of Ire 
land; Ileremon, son of Milesius, 
its aueestiir; sigiiifu'iit ion of name 



of; possessions of where in Ire- 
land ; ancient form of name ; 
South Carolina the first American 
home of, 95. 
Connellys, the: with Boone visited 
the Big Sandy Valley about 1763, 
55; dealt in lands and townsites; 
induced Germans and Scotch-Irish 
to settle in South Carolina ; fought 
in the Revolution; served under 
famous American Generals; where 
settled; where now found. 96; 
many descended from Edith Mae- 
Alpine, 100; proud of their de- 
scent from the Clan MacGregor. 
102. 
Conley: one form of the name Con- 
nelly; the most common form in 
Eastern Kentucky; relatives of the 
author so write it, 97. 
Conley, Amanda: date of birth of; 

married whom, 141. 
Conley, Asa Johnson: marriage of; 

children of, 153. 
Conley, Catherine: date of birth of; 

married whom, 141. 
Conley, Celia : date of birth of. 140. 
Conley, Clarinda: date of birth of-, 

married whom, 141. 
Conley, Constantine, Jr : portraits 
of, 145, 148 ; in Union Army in 
Civil War; father of the author; 
lived in log cabin on Wolf Pen 
Fork, 105 ; married Rebecca Jane 
MeCarty; lived where, 140; mov- 
ing of mentioned; reply of Rev. 
Alexis Howes to; was a shoe- 
maker; built hotel at Salyersville, 
146; enlisted in Fourteenth Ken- 
tucky Infantry but was not mus- 
tered; served in Forty-fifth, 
Mounted Infantry; second and 
third marriages of; killed the fa- 
mous wild turkey. 147; children of. 
148. 
Conley. Cynthia: date of birth of; 
married whom, 142. 



INDEX 



163 



Conley, Elizabeth Leslie: married 
Asa Johnson Conley; children of, 
153. 

Conley. Henry C. H.: date of birth 
of, 148. 

Conley, James Hayden : son of John 
Connelly, 126. 

Conley, James Mason Brovrn : date 
of birth of, 148. 

Conley, John: son of Henry Con- 
nelly; date of birth of, 141. 

Conley, John M. : son of Constantine 
Conley, Jr.: date of birth of, 148. 

Conley, .Joseph Milton : date of birth 
of, 148. 

Conley, Louisa Elizabeth : date of 
birth of, 148. 

Conley, Lucina, date of birth of; 
married whom, 141. 

Conley, Mahala: date of birth of; 
married whim ; children of, 141. 

Conley, Martha Ellen: date of birth 
of, 148. 

Conley, Martin Leslie: parents of; 
President of Morgan County Na- 
tional Bank; General Manager 
Ohio & Kentucky Railway Com- 
pany, 153. 

Conley, Mary: date of birth; mar- 
ried whom, 141. 

Conley, Mary: daughter of Con- 
stantine Conlej'', Jr.; date of birth 
of, 148. 

Conley, Milton Forrest: portrait of; 
date of birth of; parents of; 
founded Big Sandy News; has 
had interests in other papers; was 
Postmaster of native town ; Cash- 
ier of Louisa National Bank; con- 
nected with other enterprises, 153 ; 
marriage of; Trustee of Kentucky 
Normal College, 154. 

Conley, Sarah: date of birth of, 148. 

Conley, Susan : date of birth of, 148. 

Conley, Thomas: son of Henry Con- 
nelly; date of birth of, 141. 

Conley, William: son of Henry Con- 



nelly; was in Fourteenth Kentucky 
Cavalry; died in the service; traits 
of, 141. 

ConuelU: one form of the name Con- 
nelly, 97. 

Connelly, Anu: wife of Captain 
Henry Connelly; was Ann Mac- 
Gregor; probable date of death 
of, 108. 

Connelly, Celia: birth of; married 
Dr. Isaac Rice, 126. 

Connelly, Constantine: born in North 
Carolina; lived in Kentucky; mar- 
ried Celia Fairchild, 126. 

Connelly, David : birth of, 105. 

Connelly, Edmund : came from Ire- 
land to South Carolina, 95. 

Connelly, Edmund : son of Henry, 
the emigrant ; married Mary Edge- 
field; sons of, 98. 

Connelly, Edmund: son of Captain 
Henry Connelly ; always claimed 
his mother was a Pennsylvania 
Dutch woman, 99; date of birth 
of ; lived in Magoffin County, Ky. : 
author attended religious services 
at home of; married whom, 103. 

Connelly, Elizabeth: date of birth 
of, 107. 

Connelly, Frances: married Bcnja- 
min Salyer, 126. 

Connelly, Harmon : visited Kentucky 
with Boone and others, 55; mar- 
ried whom ; moved to North Caro- 
lina, 98; visit to Kentucky men- 
tioned; was in the Revolution, 99., 

Connelly, Henry: came from Ire- 
land to South Carolina, 95. 

Connelly, Henry: manner of" life in 
home of, 23; born in Letcher 
County, Ky ; mother died at home 
of; lived where, 104; married Re- 
becca Blair, 105; date of birth of, 
married whom, 106; where born; 
date of birth of ; married whom ; 
lived where; grandfather of the 



164 



HARMAN'S STATION 



author, 126 ; some incidents in the 
life of, 139; children of, 140. 
Connelly, Captain Henry: the numer- 
ous descendants of; moved from 
North Carolina to Virginia, then 
to Kentucky; soldier in the Rev- 
olution, 97; son of whom; born 
where; settled in Guilford County, 
North Carolina, 100 ; married Ann 
MacGregor, 102; family Bible of; 
family record of; date of birth 
of; wife of; mother a Pennsyl- 
vania Dutch woman, 103 ; signa- 
ture of; date of death of; for sec- 
ond wife married whom, 108 ; ser- 
vices of in Revolution ; declara- 
tion of for pension ; when he en- 
listed; officers served under, 109, 
et. seq. ; appointed to keep down 
Colonel David Fanning, the fa- 
mous Tory leader of the Revolu- 
tion; where company of served in 
1778, 110; in the battle of the 
Cowpens; in the great retreat of 
Colonel Greene; in battle of Guil- 
ford Court House; men of in 
panic, 113; names of officers of 
the Revolution known to him; 
raised company to go to York- 
town; gave his commission to Gen- 
eral Lackey, 114; date of birth 
of; said his father recorded date 
in family Bible "in Dutch"; 
where he lived; services of in Rev- 
olution, 116 ; wounded at Colson 's 
Mills; nineteen of men of killed 
at battle of Hillsboro; was at bat- 
tle of Cowpens and Guilford Court 
House; with General Green in his 
retreat to Dan River, 117; went 
to Montgomery County, Va., and 
raised company to go to York- 
town; company discharged; had a 
commission from Governor Burke; 
testimonials to character of, 118; 
affidavit of Phillip Williamson for, 
119; affidavit of Jonathan Pytts 



for, 120; affidavit of Benedict 
Wadkins for, 121; affidavits for of 
William Haney and Mesias Hall, 
122; enrolled for pension at $150 
per annum; was called a Dutch- 
man, 123; remarkable letter con- 
cerning pension declaration of; 
best history of the Revolution ever 
written, 124; moved to Rowan 
County, Ky. ; where buried; of the 
Baptist Church; founder of the 
Connelly family in Eastern Ken- 
tucky, 125. 

Connelly, Dr. Henry: portrait of; 
was Governor of New Mexico; 
where born ; son of whom ; grad- 
uated at Transylvania University; 
went to Missouri and to Mexico, 
97; merchant in Mexico; aided 
General Kearny and Colonel Doni- 
phan in Mexico; trader over Old 
Santa Fe Trail; explored Okla- 
homa and Texas; saved New Mex- 
ico to the Union; son of lives in 
Kansas City, 98; account of writ- 
ten from documents, 109. 

Connelly, John: came from Ireland 
to South Carolina, 95. 

Connelly, John: son of Captain 
Henry Connelly; date of birth of; 
married a Miss Joynes; settled 
where; descendants of live where, 
106. 

Connelly, John: son of Thomas; 
birth of; married whom; lived 
where; one of the sons of, 126. 

Connelly, John Donaldson: father 
of Dr. Henry Connelly, 97. 

Connelly, Joseph: date of birth of, 
107. 

Connelly, Nancy: married Asa 
Fairchild; lived where, 127. 

Connelly, Peggy: date of birth of, 
105. 

Connelly, Peter: son of Dr. Henry 
Connelly, 98. 



INDEX 



165 



Connelly, Eachel: date of birth of; 
married James Spradlin, Sr., 105. 

Connelly, Susan: where and when 
born, married John Blair, 127. 

Connelly, Susan Joynes: described 
Mrs. Wiley, 25; children of, 125. 

Connelly, Temperance: allowed pen 
sion of $600 for services of hus- 
band in the Revolution, 123. 

Connelly, Thomas: came from Ire- 
land to South Carolina, 95. 

Connelly, Thomas: visited Kentucky 
with Boone and others, 55 ; was 
the son of Edmund Connelly, 98 ; 
moved to Pennsylvania ; married 
a Pennsylvania Dutch woman; 
was in the Revolution under Gen- 
eral Charles Cotesworth Pinckney; 
wounded at the battle of King's 
Mountain, 99; was at the defeat 
of Braddock, 100. 

Connelly, Thomas: son of Captain 
Henry Connelly; date of birth of; 
married whom ; great grandfather 
of the author, 104 ; names of child- 
ren of, 125. 

Connelly, Thomas: son of Thomas 
and grandson of Captain Henry 
Connelly; married whom; lived on 
Abbott's Creek, Floyd County, 
Ky., 127. 

Connelly, William : son of Captain 
Henry Connelly; drowned in the 
Big Sandy River; where buried, 
107. 

Connelly, William : son of Thomas 
Connelly; death of, 126. 

Connelley, William Elsey: date of 
birth of; given his name for 
whom; author of this work; saw 
the famous wild turkey shot ; some 
recollections of, 147, 148. 

Conspiracy of Pontiac: causes of, 
17. 

Conspiracy of Fontiac, the: men- 
tioned, 18. 



Continental money: the depreciation 
of. 111. 

Cormac, King of Munster: founder 
of the McCarty FamUy, 143. 

Cornwallis, Lord: opposed to North 
Carolina troops, 112. 

Cowpens: the battle of; Captain 
Henry Connelly in, 113; men- 
tioned, 117; troops passed on 
King's Mountain campaign, 131. 

Crane, the: chief of the Wyandots, 
11. 

Crum, William C. : tree against 
which Indians dashed Mrs Wiley 's 
child on farm of, 83. 

Damrons, the: moved from the 
Shenandoah with Hezekiah Sel- 
lards, 21. 

Damron, Lazarus: with Matthias 
Harman in pursuit of Indians, 82. 

Davidson, General: known by Cap- 
tain Henry Connelly, 114, 117; re- 
turn of from Washington's army, 
120. 

Davidson, Colonel William: aided 
the North for a time in the Rev- 
olution, 111 ; opposed Cornwallis, 
112. 

Davie, Colonel W. R. : Captain Henry 
Connelly served under, 111; in 
command of district; opposed 
Cornwallis, 112; directed Captain 
Henry Connelly to keep down Fan- 
ning, 117; failed to make roll of 
forces, 124. 

Davis, James: Justice of the Peace; 
attestation of to pension declara- 
tion of Captain Henry Connelly, 
115, 116; certificates of. 118. 

De Kalb, Baron: known by Captain 
Henry Connelly, 114, 117. 

Dela wares, the : some of in band 
which murdered family of Wiley, 
3.3. 

DcnioH, .Tolin O. : David Fanning, 
the Tory, bound to, 110. 



166 



HARMAN'S STATION 



Dickson, Eev. Henry: owned land 
on which Paintsville, Ky., is sit- 
uated, 53; referred to by Captain 
Henry Connelly, 115. 

Donegal: County of in Ireland, seat 
of ancient Connelly Family, 95. 

Doniphan, Colonel A. W. : aided by 
Dr. Henry Connelly, 98. 

Draper's Meadows: the Harmans 
settled at, 26. 

Draper, George: in battle with In- 
dians at camp of hunters, 30; ran 
away, 32. 

Draper, John: action of in captivity 
of Mrs. Wiley, 87. 

Duncards, the: lived about Ingles 's 
Ferry in 1750, 18. 

Dutchmen: the Harmans, Steiner, 
Stoner, and Mansker, as well as 
all other Germans in Backwoods 
so called, 27. 

Edgefield, Mary: married Edmund 

Connelly, 98. 
Ely, Dr. William: work on Big 

Sandy Valley referred to, 12. 
Eogan: King of Ireland, A. D. 379; 

founder of the Connelly Family, 

95. 
Estep, James: married Amanda Mc- 

Carty, 145. 
Estep, Joseph: married Angelina 

McCarty, 145. 
Evans, James: actions of in capture 

of Mrs. Wiley, 87. 
Evans, Lewis: map of referred to, 

7. 
Evans, William: lived where; James 

Spradlin, Sr., died at house of, 

106. 

Fagg's Manor School: forerunner 
of Princeton University, 134. 

Fairchilds, the: many of descended 
from Edith MacAlpiue, 100. 

Fairchild Family, the: founded by 



Abind Fairchild, a soldier in the 
Revolution, 127. 

Fairchild, Abind: founder of the 
Fairchild Family in Eastern Ken- 
tucky; soldier in the Eevolution; 
born in Westmoreland County, 
Va. ; pension declaration of, 127; 
history of Eevolutionary services 
in pension declaration of, 128, et. 
seq. ; in King 's Mountain cam- 
paign; routes of march, 130; 
served under John C. Cleveland, 
131; where and when born; lived 
where and when; Revolutionary 
services of, 132; references of; 
services rendered; when moved to 
Kentucky; lived about Fish Trap 
Meeting House; enrolled as Eevo- 
lutionary pensioner, 133. 

Fairchild, Asa : married Nancy Con- 
nelly, 127. 

Fairchild, Celia, married Constantine 
Conley, 126. 

Fairchild, Mary: married George 
Blair, 134, 

Fanning, Colonel David: the fam.ous 
Tory of the Eevolution; biograph- 
ical sketch of; Captain Henry 
Connelly appointed to keep him 
down, 110, 119. 

Ferguson, Colonel: killed at battle 
of King's Mountain, 131. 

Fermanagh: the Connellys chiefs in, 
95. 

Firbolgs: subdued by the Milesians, 
95. 

Fish Trap Meeting House: Abind 
Fairchild lived near, 133. 

Fitz-Adelm de Burgo, William : the 
Norman ancestor of the Burke 
Family, 142. 

Flat Gap, the: Indians passed 
through with Mrs. Wile}', 50. 

Flat Rock Ford : a noted place, 52 ; 
painted trees about, 53. 

Fort Towson: Dr. Henrj' Connelly 
spent winter at, 98. 



INDEX 



167 



French, the: v>ith Indians, built 
cabins at the mouth of Big Paint 
Creek, 55. 

Friend, John: Justice of the Peace, 
123. 

Galway: County of in Ireland, seat 
of ancient Connelly Family, 95. 

Gates, General Horatio: the Con- 
nellys served under in Revolution, 
96. 

Genealogy of Irish Families: by 
Rooney, referred to, 95, 142, 143. 

Gillery, Lieut. "William : acted as 
Captain of Abind Fairchild's com- 
pany, 128; discharged men at Tur- 
key Hill, 129. 

Gist, Christopher: entry in Journal 
of referred to, 10. 

Glasgow, Edward J. : partner of Dr. 
Henry Connelly in Mexico, 98. 

Goodwin, General: known by Cap- 
tain Henry Connelly, 114. 

Grahams, the: many of descended 
from Edith MacAlpine, 100. 

Graham, Colonel T. W. : referred to 
by Captain Henry Connelly, 118. 

Great Flat Top Mountain: Indian 
trail ran along the top of, 41 ; 
sometimes called Indian Ridge, 42. 

Green, Rev. William : mentioned, 145. 

Greene, General Nathaniel: the Con- 
nellys served under in the Revo- 
lution, 96; in command of the 
troops of the Carolinas; great re- 
treat of, 113; Captain Henry Con- 
nelly with on famous retreat to 
Dan River. 117. 

Greenleaf Ford: on the Catawba; 
troops crossed at on King's Moun- 
tain campaign, 130. 

Guilford Court House: battle of, 
113; Captain Henry Connelly at 
battle of, 117. 

Guyan, Henry: said to have had 
trading post at mouth of Guyan- 
dotte River in 1750; the uncle of 



Susan Joynes, 104; Guyandotte 
River said to have been named 
for, 105. 
Guyandotte River: origin of name 
of, 105. 

Hackworths, the: many of de- 
scended from Edith MacAlpine, 
100, 

Hackworth, Jeremiah: in the Four- 
teenth Kentucky Infantry; mar- 
ried Clarinda Conley, 141. 

Hager Hill: mention of, 55. 

Hale, John P. : work of referred to, 
9. 

Half -King, the: chief of the Wyan- 
dots; succeeded by Tarhe, the 
Crane, 11. 

Halls, the: many of descended from 
Edith MacAlpine, 108. 

Hall, Mesias: affidavit of for Cap- 
tain Henry Connelly, 122. 

Hamiltons, the : many of descended 
from Edith MacAlpine, 100. 

Hamilton, Stephen: Justice of the 
Peace, 121. 

Haney, William: affidavit of for 
Captain Henry Connelly, 122. 

Hanging Rock: view of from Paints- 
ville, Ky., 55. 

Hanks, John : in the settlement at 
Vancouver's post, 68; affidavit of 
concerning post, 69. 

Hanna, Rev. Samuel: referred to by 
Captain Henry Connelly, 115. 

ITardestji's Historical and Biograph- 
ical Encyclopedia: referred to, 81. 

Harman 's Station : shown on Imlay's 
Map of Kentucky, 1793, see map; 
cause of founding of, 5; some of 
the founders, 6; first cabin built 
on site of as early as 1755; prob- 
ably the oldest settlement in Ken- 
tucky; had no aid from any stao, 
7; site of fixed; blockhouse built 
at described, 67; dates fixed be 
yond doubt; shown on Imlay's 



168 



HARMAN'S STATION 



map, 68; beseiged by Indians in 
1788; abandoned; destroj^ed by 
Indians; rebuilt in winter of 1789- 
90, 77. 

Harman, Adam: one of the found- 
ers of Harman 's Station, 65. 

Harman, Adam: came to America 
from Prussia; settled first in 
Pennsylvania, then in Virginia, 26. 

Harman, Aquilla: in battle with In- 
dians at camp of the hunters, 30. 

Harman, Daniel: in battle with In- 
dians at camp of the hunters, 30; 
one of the founders of Harman 's 
Station, 65; became permanent 
settler in Kentucky; descendants 
of live there, 77. 

Harman, Ed: in battle with Indians 
at camp of the hunters, 30. 

Hannan, George: in battle with In- 
dians at camp of the hunters, 30 ; 
actions of according to Eagland, 
87. 

Harman, Henry: one of the found- 
ers of Harman 's Station, 65; ac- 
tions of according to Eagland, 87. 

Harman, Henry, Jr.: actions of ac- 
cording to Eagland, 87. 

Harman, Jacob: came from Prussia 
to Pennsylvania and then to Vir- 
ginia, 26. 

Harman, Captain Matthias: led com- 
pany to found Harman 's Station; 
one of the Long Hunters, 6; cred- 
it given to by Adam P. Wiley, 11 ; 
lived on Walker 's Creek, 25 ; bio- 
graphical sketch of; located col- 
ony in Ab 's Valley ; sold Thomas 
Wiley land on Walker 's Creek, 26 ; 
formed colony to settle in Big 
Sandy Valley at mouth of John 's 
Creek, 27; called "Tice" or 
"Tias" Harman; personal ap- 
pearance of; made first settle- 
ment in Kentucky possibly; was 
in the Eevolution ; went on hunt 
in fall of 1787, 28; killed son of 



Cherokee chief ; enmity of chief 
towards, 29; was guide on Sandy 
Creek Voyage; actions of in bat- 
tle at camp of the hunters de- 
scribed by various persons, 30; 
thought Cherokee chief would at- 
tack the settlement; various parts 
assigned to by writers, 31; Indians 
seek his cabin to destroy his fam- 
ily, 33; situation of house of, 37; 
Cherokee chief said he would find 
trail, 43 ; visited Kentucky at early 
day with Boone and others, 55; 
went to house of Thomas Wiley 
and took direction of affairs; saw 
there was no Indian uprising; 
went forward to the founding of 
Harman 's Station, 64 ; set for- 
ward on the trail and followed it 
rapidly, 65; gave up the pursuit 
of the Indians; went to site of 
blockhouse, 66; founded Harman 's 
Station, 68 ; rebuilt the block- 
house in the winter of 1789-90, 69; 
took Mrs. Wiley back to Virginia, 
76; returned to Virginia and died 
there, 77; went in pursuit of In- 
dians, 82 ; what Eagland says. 87 ; 
raising a company of rangers for 
service in the Carolinas, 88; sent 
back to the settlements, 91; men- 
tioned, 92. 
Harman, Matthias, Jr.: wrote ac- 
count of the battle at camp of 
the hunters for the author, 30. 
Harman, William: in battle with In 
dians at camp of the hunters. 30. 
Harris, David K. : referred to by 

Captain Henry Connelly, 115. 
Harris, Henry C. : Attorney for Cap- 
tain Henry Connelly; said the 
Captain was a Dutchman, 123. 
Haw Fields: meeting place for the 

Tories in the Eevolution, 111. 
Hawps, Eobert : one of the party to 
found Harman 's Station ; one of 
the Long Hunters. 6 ; went on 



INDEX 



169 



hunt with the Harmaus in fall of 
1787, 29; one of the founders of 
Ilarmau's Station, 65. 
Heber: son of Milcsius, McCarty 

Family descended through, 143. 
Henderson, Richard: bought coun- 
try from the Cherokees; named it 
Transylvania, 7; sale of claim 
mentioned, 17. 
Heremon: son of Milesius, Connelly 

Family descended through, 95. 
Herrman, Heinrich: came from Prus- 
sia to Pennsylvania; moved to 
Strasburg, Va. ; brothers of came 
to America; father of Matthias 
Harman, 26; went on hunt with 
his sons in fall of 1787, 28; shot 
with arrows by young Cherokee, 
29; other accounts of the battle, 
30. 
Hicks, Dr. : daughter of mar- 
ried Harmon Connelly, 98; traded 
with Cherokees; had married a 
Cherokee woman, 99; attended 
Thomas Connelly on battlefield of 
King's Mountain, 100. 
Hillsboro: battle of, 19; Captain 
Henry Connelly's men killed at. 
117. 
History of Tazewell County, Vir- 
ginia: quoted from, 31. 
Hitchcock, John: date of birth of; 
married whom ; a Quaker ; dates 
of births of children of; widow of 
married Captain Henry Connelly, 
108. 
Hitchock, Temperance: widow of 
John Hitchcock; Eastern Ken- 
tucky families descended from, 
108. 
Holgin, Captain: known by Captain 

Henry Connelly, 114, 117. 
Hood's Fork, the: Indian trail fol- 
lowed, 50. 

Horn, : believed to have been 

one of the founders of Harman 's 
Station, 65. 



Howard, General John E. : Captain 
Henry Connelly served under in 
Revolution, 96; at battle of Cow- 
pens, 113; known by Captain Con- 
nelly, 114, 117. 

Howe, John: early exploration of 
Kentucky told of by, 55. 

Howes, Rev. Alexis: led colonies of 
Methodists to Kentucky, 143, 144. 

Huff, Peter: grave of, 91. 

Hy Nials, the Northern: descended 
from Eogan, 95. 

Indian Bottom : Henry Connelly 

born at, 104. 
Imlay's American Topography: map 

in shows Harman 's Station, 68. 
Ingles 's Ferry : mention of ; Dun- 
cards lived at 18. 
Ingles, Mrs. Mary; adventures of 

told of by Adam P. Wiley, 9. 
Iron Works, the: Captain Henry 

Connelly called roll of his men at, 

118. 
Iroquois, the: claimed the country of 

Kentucky, 17. 

Jackson, Captain William: Abind 
Fairchild served under in King's 
Mountain campaign, 130. 

Jaynes, the : live about the Flat Gap 
in Kentucky, 100. 

Jennie's Creek: followed by Mrs. 
Wiley, 72, 73 ; named for Mrs. 
Wiley, 74; Thomas Connelly set- 
tled on, 104; James Spradlin lived 
on, 105. 

John 's Creek : Harman 's Station be- 
low mouth of, 66; stream de- 
scribed, 67. 

.Johnson, Richard M. : Attorney for 
Abind Fairchild, 133. 

Johnson County, Ky.: has sites of 
first and second settlements made 
in Eastern Kentucky, 54. 

Joynes, Susan: descent of; married 
Thomas Connelly; sketch of; Hen- 



170 



BARMAN'S STATION 



ry Guyan the uncle of; death of, 
104; where buried, 105. 

Kanawha, the Great: Louisa River 
marked as flowing into, 8. 

Kearny, General S. W. : aided by Dr. 
Henry Connelly, 98. 

Kelly, Joseph: Mrs. Wiley described 
by, 25. 

Kenton, Simon: lived two winters at 
mouth of Big Paint Creek, 55. 

Kentucky: history of, as written, 
deals only with ' ' blue grass re- 
gion, " 6; possibly first settled at 
Harman's Station, 7; people of 
the east part of descended from 
Revolutionary soldiers; pure An- 
glo-Saxon speech of people of, 12; 
early claims to; aboriginal claims 
to, 17; home of many of the Con- 
nellys, 96. 

King's Mountain: Thomas Connelly 
wounded in battle of, 99; Abind 
Fairchild in forces which marched 
against, 130. 

King's Mountain and its Heroes: 
mentioned, 131. 

Krider's Fort: passed by troops on 
way to King's Mountain, 130. 

Lackey, General Alexander: com- 
mission of Captain Henry Connelly 
given to, 114; referred to by Cap- 
tain Connelly, 118. 

Langleys, the: descended from Edith 
MacAlpine, 100. 

Langley: Ann MacGregor so called, 
102. 

Langley, John Wesley : portrait of ; 
ancestry of; descended from the 
Clan MacAlpine; cousin to all the 
descendants of Captain Henry 
Connelly; early life of; blood-re- 
lationship of the largest in East- 
ern Kentucky ; educated where ; 
degrees taken by, 150; positions 
held by ; elected to Congress ; 



good record of, 151; proposed 
name of Roosevelt for Vice Pres- 
ident; character of, 152. 

Laurel Pork, the: Indians crossed 
over to, 50. 

Lee, Colonel: known by Captain 
Henry Connelly, 114, 117. 

Leek, : believed to have been 

one of the founders of Harman's 
Station, 65. 

Legend of Montrose, the: mentioned, 
101. 

Lewis, General Andrew: commanded 
Sandy Creek Voyage, 91. 

Lewis, Charles: death of, 89. 

Lewis, Lieut. Joseph : known by Cap- 
tain Henry Connelly, 117. 

Lewis, Thomas: described Mrs. Jen- 
nie Wiley, 25. 

Le Visa, : a French trader on 

the Big Sandy; Louisa River said 
to have been called Levisa Eiver 
for, 9. 

Lick Fork: Mrs. Wiley followed it 
up in her escape, 72. 

Lincoln, President Abraham: ap- 
pointed Dr. Henry Connelly Gov- 
ernor of New Mexico, 98. 

Lincoln, General Benjamin: the Con- 
nellys served under in the Revolu- 
tion, 96. 

Litteral, Hairston : called ' ' Austin, ' ' 
Connellys lived by, 106; referred 
to by Captain Henry Connelly, 118. 

Little Mudlick Creek, the: Indians 
camped at, 50 ; a description of, 
51 ; cliffs and rocks about mouth 
of, 52 ; Falls of very fine, 55. 

Little Paint Creek: followed down 
by Mrs. Wiley. 73. 

Loch Tay: the MacGregors lived on 
both sides of, 101. 

Long, Matilda: married John Con- 
ley, 141. 

Louisji River: named by Dr. Thomas 
Walker; corrupted to Levisa 
I\ii:<r; the name written Leow- 



INDEX 



171 



visay by Felix Walker, 6; Ken- 
tucky Eiver called Louisa River 
under misapprehension, 7; on some 
maps marked as flowing into the 
Great Kanawha; called Frederick 
Eiver and Tottery Creek on old 
maps; other accounts of, 8; origin 
of name of; should have correct 
name restored, 12. 

Low Gap Church: division in Baptist 
Church occurred at, 125. 

Lusk, Absolom: one of the founders 
of Harman's Station, 65. 

Lyttle, Colonel : aided Captain 

Henry Connelly to dislodge the 
Tories, 112; referred to by Cap- 
tain Connelly, 114. 

MacAlpine, Clan of: origin and his- 
tory of; American families de- 
scend from, 100. 

MacAlpine, Edith : maternal ancestor 
of Eastern Kentucky families of 
Connelly, Langley and others, 
100 ; married whom, 102. 

MacGregor, Clan of: origin and his- 
tory of; motto of; famous in an- 
nals of Scotland; possessions of; 
second oldest clan in Scotland, 
lOL 

MacGregor, Archibald: espoused the 
cause of the Pretender; wounded 
at Culloden Moore; escaped to 
North Carolina; married Edith 
MacAlpine; daughter of married 
Captain Henry Connelly; widow 
of married Langley, 102. 

MacGregor, Ann: called Ann Lang- 
ley ; married Captain Henry Con- 
nelly, 102; date of birth of; chil- 
dren of, 103. 

McAuliffes, the: a sept of the Me- 
Carty Family, 143. 

McCalls, the: a sept of the McCatry 
Family, 143. 

McCall, James: lived on the New 
River in 1750, 18. 



McCarthy More: a sept of the Mc- 
Carty Family, 143. 

McCarthy Raigh: a sept of the Mc- 

Carty Family, 143. 

McCartneys, the: a sopt of the Mc- 
Carty Family. 143, 

McCarty Family, the: origin of; 
families allied with ; a famous 
family in Ireland, 143. 

McCarty, Abner: son of Captain 
Richard McCarty; settled in Scott 
County, Va., 144. 

McCarty, Abner: son of John Mc- 
Carty, 145. 

McCartj^, Amanda: married James 
Estep, 145. 

McCarty, Angelina: married Joseph 
Estep, 145. 

McCarty, John: son of Wiley; came 
to Kentucky with Methodist col- 
ony; married Lydia Burke; lived 
w-here; traits of; death of, 144. 

McCarty, John: son of John; mar- 
ried Sarah Burkett, 145. 

McCarty, Martha: married Franklin 
Centers, 145. 

McCarty, Mary A.: married Rev. 
Samuel K. Ramey, 145. 

McCarty, Rebecca Jane: married 
Constantine Conley, Jr., 140; 
mother of the author, 145; tribute 
of Rev. Alexis Howes to, 146; 
buried where, 147, children of, 
148. 

McCarty, Richard: born in Culpeper 
County, Va. ; at Braddock 's de- 
feat ; in company of one Slaught- 
er, 143; in the Revolution as Cap- 
tain in the Virginia Line; died in 
service, 144. 

McCarty, Wiley: son of Abner; lived 
in Scott County, Va., 144. 

McCarty, Wiley : son of John ; mar- 
ried Frances Calhoun, 145. 

McCoys, the: a sept of the McCarty 
Family; many of descended from 
Edith MacAlpine, 100. 



172 



HARMAN'S STATION 



McCurtins, the: a sept of the Mc- 
Carty Family, 143. 

MeCutcheons, the: a sept of the Mc- 
Carty Family, 143. 

McDowells, the: a part of the Col- 
vin Family, 134. 

McGuires, the: many of descended 
from Edith MacAlpine, 100. 

McHughes, the: a sept of the Mc- 
Carty Family, 143. 

Malmody, Colonel: referred to by 
Captain Henry Connelly, 114, 117. 

Mankins, Peter: neighbor of Thomas 
Connelly; died in Washington 
County, Ark., aged 114 years, 114. 

Mankins, Walter: early explorations 
made by, 55. 

Mansker, Casper: related to the Har- 
mans, 27. 

Maxwell, George: in battle with In- 
dians, 87. 

May, Artemisia: eldest daughter of 
Caleb May; married Constantine 
Conley, Jr.,* 147. 

May, Caleb: mentioned, 147. 

Mayo, Henry B. : referred to by Cap- 
tain Henry Connelly, 115. 

Mayo, Jacob: refen-ed to by Captain 
Henry Connelly, 118. 

Meath : County of, seat of ancient 
Connelly Family, 95. 

Meek, Rev. Zephaniah: letter of to 
author, 8; wrote remarkably ac- 
curate account of the adventures 
of Mrs. Wiley; account of given; 
editor of Central Methodist, 81. 

Middle Fork: passed by Mrs. Wiley, 
72. 

Milesians: wliom they arc in Ireland, 
95. 

Milesius: King of Spain; Connelly 
Family descended from, 95; Mc- 
Carty Family descended from, 143. 

Montgomery, Edith: married Wil- 
liam Blair, 138. 

Moore, James: in battle with In- 
dians, 87. 



Morgan, General Daniel: the Con- 
nellys served under in the Revolu 
tion, 96; commanded at battle of 
Cowpens, 113. 

Mounds: those at mouth of Big 
Paint Creek, 54. 

Mound Builders, the: monuments of 
in Big Sandy Valley, 55. 

Murray, Samuel: married Sarah 
Wiley, 11. 

Nelson, Christine : married Heze- 

kiah Wiley, 10. 
Nelson 's Ferry : troops crossed at, 

128. 
Nibert, James: owned the Wiley 

farm, 86. 

O 'Collins, the: sept of the McCarty 
Family, 143. 

O 'Conghailaigh : ancient form of the 
name Connelly and other Irish 
names, 95. 

O 'Cowleys, the : sept of the McCarty 
Family, 143. 

O'Currys, the; a sept of the McCar- 
ty Family, 143. 

O 'Donovans, the: a sept of the Mc- 
Carty Family, 143. 

O'Dunnadsys, the: a sept of the Mc- 
Carty Family, 143. 

O'Keefes, the: a sept of the Mc- 
Carty Family, 143. 

O'Mahoneys, the: a sept of the Mc- 
Carty Family, 143. 

O 'Scanlons, the : a sept of the Mc- 
Carty Family, 143. 

Ohio, the: joy of Indians on reach- 
ing, 48. 

Owens, Captain : theory of con- 
cerning the Louisa River, 8; the 
ory wrong, 9. 

Painted licks: those on site of 

Paiutsville so called, 53. 
Paint Lick: first name for Paints 

ville, Ky., 54. 



INDEX 



173 



Painted rocks: those at junction of 
Mudlick creeks, 52. 

Paintsville, Ky. : origin of name of, 
54; cabins built below site of by 
the French, 55. 

Painted trees: many found on the 
Big Sandy River, 10; those at 
mouth of Big Paint Creek, 52; 
above Flat Rock Ford, 53. 

Paisley, Colonel : Captain Hen- 
ry Connelly served under, 109; 
ordered South to join General Lin- 
coln, 112; referred to by Captain 
Connelly, 114, 117. 

Partonairre: family of Susan Joynes 
descended from, 104. 

Patricks, the: many of descended 
from Edith MacAlpine, 100. 

Perthshire: former home of the Mac- 
Gregors, 101. 

Picklesimer, Charlotte: married Con- 
stantine Conley, Jr., 147; children 
of, 148. . 

Picklesimer, Nathaniel: married 
whom, 141. 

Pickens, General : known by 

Captain Henry Connelly, 114, 117. 

Pinckney, General Charles Cotes- 
worth, the Connellys served under 
in the Revolution, 96. 

Prater, Jeff: banker at Salyersville, 
Ky. ; son of whom, 106. 

Prater, Jilson: Henry Connelly, Jr., 
liver near, 106. 

Prater, William : pioneer in Magof- 
fin County, 147. 

Preston, Shadrach: Justice of the 
Peace, 122. 

Preston, General William: in Sandy 
Creek Voyage, 88; mentioned, 92. 

Pretender, the: Archibald MacGreg- 
or espoused cause of, 102. 

Prices, the: some of descended from 
Edith MacAlpine, 100. 

Princeton University : first schools of 
founded by the Blairs, 134. 



Porters, the: came with Hezekiah 
Sellards from Shenandoah, 21. 

Pound River: mention of, 10. 

Powell, : mentioned, 97. 

Power, Louis: saved from drowning 
by John Blair, 136; niece of mar- 
ried whom, 147. 

Pytts, Jonathan: a soldier of the 
Revolution; affidavit of for Cap- 
tain Henry Connelly, 120. 

Ragland, H. C: confused Sandy 

Creek Voyage with captivity of 
Mrs. Wiley, 30; edited the Logan 
County (West Virginia) Banner, 
86; account of given, 87. 

Ramey, Rev. Samuel: married Mary 
A. McCarty, 145. 

Rattlesnake: picture of on tree at 
Flat Rock Ford, 53. 

Revolution, the: in Middle Counties 
of North Carolina; Captain Henry 
Connelly 's pension declaration best 
history of written, 124. 

Rices, the: many of descended from 
Edith MacAlpine, 100. 

Rice, Andrew J.: married Catherine 
Conley, 141. 

Rice, Dr. Isaac: married Celia Con- 
nelly; son of Samuel Rice, sec- 
ond marriage to Malinda, widow 
of Britton Blair, 126; traits of, 
136. 

Rice, John : referred to by Captain 
Henry Connelly, 115. 

Rice, Martin R. : wealthiest man in 
Johnson County; lived on old Con- 
nelly farm, 104. 

Rice, Samuel: first settler on Little 
Mudlick Creek, 126. 

Robbins. Captain John: Abind Fair- 
child served under, 128. 

Robinsons, the: many of descended 
from Edith MacAlpine, 100. 

Rockhouses: what they are and 
where found, 41. 



174 



HARMAN'S STATION 



Eooney, John: -work of referred to, 
95. 

Eoy, Eobert: hero of Scott's famous 
novel; was a MacGregor, 101. 

Eule, Andrew: referred to by Cap- 
tain Connelly, 115, 118. 

Eutherford, General : known by 

Captain Henry Connelly, 114. 

Salisbury: troops marched to in 
Eevolution, 128 

Salyers, the: many of descended 
from Edith Mac Alpine, 100. 

Salyers, Benjamin: married Frances 
Connelly; lived on Big Mudlick 
Creek; died of cancer, 126. 

Salyer, Christina : married John Wil- 
liams, 126. 

Salyer, Hendrix: son of Benjamin 
Salyer; married Margaret Wil- 
liams; lives on Big Mudlick 
Creek, 126. 

Sandy Creek Voyage, the: Cherokee 
Chief and Matthias Harman had 
been guides in, 30; mentioned, 92. 

Santa Fe Trail: Dr. Henry Connelly 
sent caravans over, 98. 

Scott, Sir Walter: found material 
for his famous novels in annals of 
Clan MacGregor; what he says of 
the Clan, 101. 

Sellards, Hezekiah: some account of, 
20; hunted in Western Virginia; 
led colony into Walker's Creek 
country; names of those who came 
with him, 21 ; family of ; daughter 
of married John Borders, 24. 

Sellards, Jack: son of Hezekiah Sel- 
lards, 24. 

Sellards, Jennie: daughter of Heze- 
kiah Sellards, 24 ; personal appear- 
ance of; characteristics of, 25; 
married Thomas Wiley, 26. 

Sellards, Thomas: son of Hezekiah 
Sellards, 24. 

Shataras, the: lived in the Big 
Sandy Valley, 55. 



Shawnees, the: some of in the band 
which carried away Mrs. Wiley, 
33 ; graves of about Paintsville, 
Ky., 55; told Mrs. Wiley their an- 
cestors had lived about the Falls 
of Little Mudlick Creek. 56. 

Shawnee Chief, the: description of, 
34; made prisoner of Mrs. Wiley 
and saved her life, 38; care of for 
prisoners, 42; planned ordeal for 
Mrs Wiley's child, 49; sold Mrs. 
Wiley to the Cherokee Chief, 61. 

Skaggs, James: one of the founders 
of Harman 's Station ; one of the 
Long Hunters, 6; in battle with 
Indians, 28; came to Kentucky at 
early day, 55 ; sent to build block- 
house, 65; death of, 77. 

Skaggs, Henry: one of party to 
found Harman 's Station; one of 
the Long Hunters, 6; in battle 
with Indians, 28; explored Ken- 
tucky, 55; sent to build block- 
house, 65 ; recognized Mrs. Wiley, 
74 ; got her across the Big Sandy 
Eiver, 75; helped to rebuild Har- 
man 's Station; died where, 77. 

Smallwood, General : known by 

Captain Henry Sonnelly, 114, 117. 

Spears, Samuel: owned the Wiley 
farm, 86. 

Spradlins, the: many of descended 
from Edith MacAlpine, 100. 

Spradlin, Clarinda, daughter of Wil- 
liam Spradlin, 141. 

Spradlin, James: a pioneer in Ken- 
tucky; lived where; married 
Eachel Connelly; death of; author 
helped to dig grave of; Constan- 
tino Conley, Jr., sawed off lid of 
Coffin, 105. 

Spradlin. Mahala: married Asa 
Blair. 139. 

Sfiradlin, Malinda: married whom, 
126. 

Spradlin, Mantford: son of whom, 
141. 



INDEX 



175 



Spradlin, Sarah: married William 
Blair, 138. 

Spradlin, William: married Mahala 
Conley, 141. 

Staff ords, the: came with Hezekiah 
Sellards from the Shenandoah, 21. 

Stalnacker, Samuel : lived on the 

Holston in 17.50, 18. 

Stambaugh, Buchanan: son of whom, 
138. 

Stambaugh, John: married Clarinda 
Blair, 138. 

Stampers, the : many of descended 
from Edith MacAlpine, 100. 

Stapletons, the: many of descended 
from Edith MacAlpine, 100. 

Stapleton, Edward: married daugh- 
ter of Benjamin Salyer, 126. 

Stapleton, Joseph: married daughter 
of Benjamin Salyer, 126. 

Steiner (or Stoner), Michael: cousin 
to the Harmans, 26. 

Stephenson, : Dr. Henry Con- 
nelly went to Mexico with, 98. 

Stone, Rev. Cuthbert: referred to by 
Captain Henry Connelly, 115. 

Stone, Rev. Ezekiel: referred to by 
Captain Henry Connelly, 115, 118, 
133. 

South Carolina, Colony of: first 
American home of Connellys, 95. 

Sumner, Colonel: opposed the Loyal- 
ists, 112; known by Captain Henry 
Connelly, 114, 117. 

Syms, Colonel: served with Abind 
Fairchild in Revolution, 129. 

Tarleton, Sir Banastre: defeated at 
battle of Cowpens, 113. 

Taylor, Colonel John: Captain 
Henr>' Connely served under, 109. 

The Narrative of Colonel David Fan- 
ning: a rare book; copy of in li- 
brary of author; some account of, 
111. 

Tories, the: Captain Henry Connelly 
appointed to keep down ; where 



they congregated, 111; many of 
them captured and put in jail; 
made a stand at Colson 's Mills, 
112; to be put down, 119; many 
about Haw Fields, 120; very bad 
in Western Carolina, 122; pur- 
sued by Colonel Benjamin Cleve- 
land, 129; defeated at Ranisour's 
IMill, 130; nine of hanged, 131. 

Toteros: lived in the Big Sandy Val- 
ley, 52 ; had many towns there, 55. 

Trans-Allegheny Pioneers, referred 
to, 9. 

Turkey Hill, Abind Fairchild dis- 
charged at, 129. 

Twelve Pole Creek, Hezekiah Wiley 
settled on, 10; other children of 
Mrs. Wiley lived on. 11; Indians 
camped at head of, 44. 

Twetty, Captain : explored Ken- 
tucky, 6. 

Twin Branches, the; James Spradlin 
settled at Mouth of, 105. 

Underwoods, the: many of descend- 
ed from Edith MacAlpine, 100. 

Vancouver, Charles: built post at 
forks of Big Sandy River in 1789, 
69. 

Vancouver 's post, building of : affi- 
davit concerning, 69. 

Van Hoose, James Hayden: gave ac- 
count of Mrs. Wiley, 79. 

Van Hoose, Colonel John: referred 
to by Captain Henry Connelly, 115. 

Van Hoose, Valentine: mounds on 
land of, 54. 

Vickerstaff 's: nine Tory prisoners 
hanged at farm, 131. 

Wadkins, Benedict; affidavit of for 
Captain Henry Connelly, 121. 

Walker, Felix: extract from Journal 
of, 6. 

Walker, Dr. Thomas: extract from 
Journal of; named the Louisa 



176 



HARMAN'S STATION 



River, 5 ; name not known for 
some years, 7; Frederick River 
discovered and named by, 8 ; Jour- 
nal of mentions Stalnacker and 
McCall as living in the wilderness, 
18. 

Walker 's Creek : Hezekiah Sellards 
settled on, 21. 

Walker's Place: troops stopped at 
on King's mountain campaign, 
130; returned to after battle, 131. 

Washington, General George: the 
Connelly's served under in Revolu- 
tion, 96. 

Washington, Colonel William (or 
Billy) : Captain Henry Connelly 
served under, 109 ; known by Cap- 
tain Connelly, 114, 117. 

Washington's Legion: came to aid 
of Captain Connelly at battle the 
Cowpens, 113. 

Webbs, the: some of descended from 
Edith MacAIpine, 100. 

Wheeler, Colonel John H. : copy of 
Fanning 's Narrative formerly 
owned by in library of author, 111. 

White House: on the Savannah, 
guarded by Abind Fairchild, 129. 

Wilderness Boad, the: mentioned, 6. 

Wiley, Adam P. : statements of con- 
cerning his mother followed by 
author, 8; character of; physical 
condition of when author knew 
him; minister of the Gospel; au- 
thority on Border lore, 9 ; account 
of agrees with best authorities; 
exacted from author a promise to 
write an account of adventures of 
his mother, 10; left family in 
Johnson County, Ky. ; full name 
of; gave credit to Matthias Har- 
man, 11; knew Thomas and Jack 
Sellards, his uncles, 24; text of 
account of battle with Indians at 
camp of hunters given author by; 
said Bickley, in History of Taze- 
well Count n had tliis battle in 



mind when he wrote of fight be- 
tween the Harmans and the In- 
dians, 31; gave number of In- 
dians in band -which murdered 
Wiley family, 34; erroneously said 
to have been son of Shawnee 
Chief, 39; certain of the torture 
of the captive, 60 ; date of found- 
ing Harman's Station fixed by, 
68; Meek's characterization of; 
name of in full ; called ' ' Yard ' ' 
Wiley, 85; account of differs from 
that of Ragland, 91. 

Wiley, Hezekiah: married whom; 
lived where; died when, 10. 

Wiley, Jane : daughter of whom, 10 ; 
married Richard Williamson ; lived 
where, 11. 

Wiley, Mrs. Jennie: account of by 
son followed by author, 8 ; wonder- 
ful endurance of, 9 ; descendants of 
mentioned, 10 ; whom they married 
and where they lived, 11; described 
the Indians who carried her away 
captive, 34; was weaving when In- 
dians came; warned of Indians 
by John Borders, 36; prepared to 
go to home of Borders, 37; the 
attack, 38; adopted by Shawnee 
Chief as daughter; escaped viola 
tion, 39 ; route taken by the In- 
dians, 41 ; second day and night 
of captivity, 41 ; second day and 
of captivity; child of sick; Shaw- 
nee Chief treated, 42; march of 
the third day; child in danger, 43; 
again aided by the Shawnee 
Chief; failed to keep up, 44; ran 
back, 45 ; creek named in her 
honor, 45 ; child killed by the Cher- 
okee Chief; forced to cross the 
Tug River; a terrible ordeal, 46; 
course of to the Ohio, 47; at the 
Ohio; down the Ohio; captors sep- 
arate, 48; up the Little Sandy; 
camped on Cherokee Fork of Big 
Blaine Creek ; son born to her 



INDEX 



177 



there; ordeal for the child, 49; 
child tomahawked and scalped ; 
carried to Little Mudlick Creek, 
50; ancient home of the Shawnees, 
56; arrived there in April; made 
slave of, 57; made to smelt lead 
ore; promised all rites of regular 
adoption, 58 ; arrival of Cherokee 
Chief with captive; made to cook 
for Cherokee Chief, 59; certain 
that the captive was tortured; 
rudely treated, 60; advised that 
she was to be tortured; bought by 
the Cherokee Chief, 61; dead child 
of found and buried; Indians 
escape with, 66; strange dream of, 
70; such dreams not unusual; de- 
termined to escape, 71; escape of; 
route taken by; awful night, 72; 
knew nothing of country; arrived 
at Harmans Station, 73 ; her escape 
almost miraculous, 74; when safe, 
Indians appeared in pursuit of, 
75; length of captivity of; re- 
stored to husband; moved with 
husband to Kentucky; a widow 21 
years ; death of, 76 ; story of wide- 
ly known; some other accounts of 
her adventures, 79; version of 
James Hayden Van Hoose, 80; 
married in 1779, 91. 

Wiley, Sarah: daughter of whom, 
10; marriages of, 11. 

Wiley, Samuel: settled in Ab's Val- 
ley, 26; Eagland's account of, 87. 

Wiley, Thomas: home of destroyed 
by Indians, 5; came from Ireland; 
bought land from Matthias Har- 
man ; built house on Walker 's 
Creek ; married Jennie Sellards. 
26; children of; absent from 
home when Indians came, 36; sit- 
uation of home of, 37; house of 
destroyed and family murdered, 
63 ; followed the Indians unsuc- 
cessfully, 64 ; not at home when 
pursuers went on trail, 65; moved 



to Kentucky ; death of ; married 

when, 91. 
Wiley, William: mentioned, 10, 11. 
Wilkesborough, troops marcheu from 

to King's Mountain, 130. 
William the Conqueror: ancestor of 

the Burke family related to, 142. 
Williams, the: many of descended 

from Edith MacAlpine, 100. 
Williams, Colonel John: Captain 

Henry Connelly served under, 109. 
Williams, John: married Christina 

Salyer, 126. 
Williams, Margaret : married Hen- 

drix Salyer, 126. 
Williams, Colonel Nat : known by 

Captain Henry Connelly, 117 " 
Williams, General Otho: known by 

Captain Henry Connelly, 114, 117. 
Williams, Powell: son of John Wil 

liams, 126. 
Williamson, Phillip: affidavit of for 
Captain Henry Connelly, 119. 
Williamson, Richard: married whom, 

11. 
Witten, Dr. : knew Bickley, au- 
thor of work on Tazewell County; 

said Bickley fell into some errors, 

31. 
Witten, T. A.: letter of father of 

mentioned, 31. 
Wolf Creek: Indians passed up with 

captives, 41. 
Wolf Pen Branch, the: Constantino 

Conley, Jr., lived on; the author 

born on, 105. 
Wyandots, the: had no totem of 

the Crane; had no chief named 

Crane, 11; some of in band which 

captured Mrs. Wiley, 33. 

Yokktown: Captain Henry Connelly 
raised company to go to; called 
Little York, 114; men discharged 
at Big Lick, 118. 

Yost, Christian: married whom; 
lived where, 11. 



EASTERN KENTUCKY PAPERS 



C^/^^'/^ 




III lii'i- (Ircaiii Mrs. Wilcv is shewn 1 1;inii;in "s Station 



Ii» 




003 917 467 4 











mi 




^TT 


- Hi 





UK 




